


Broken Bodies, Broken Minds

by KarinaMay



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game), Detroit: Evolution
Genre: Ada centered but other characters might also get POV moments, F/F, Graphic Description, Light Angst, Mental Health Issues, Slow Burn, Smoking, Swearing, Tags May Change, Violence, also other characters will pop up, there's a serial killer sorry it gets a bit messy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-16
Updated: 2020-09-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:48:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 36,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24758836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KarinaMay/pseuds/KarinaMay
Summary: It has been a couple of months since Nines set Ada free in the warehouse and allowed her a second chance at life. She has decided to stay in Detroit, not knowing where else to go, uncertain what to do. That is until she finds out another android serial killer is on the loose in the city, and she figures that assisting in catching them may be what will finally put her mind at ease.Along the way she will have to face her inner demons, but also find a family, a place to belong, and a stubborn, hotheaded android girl, who may just be the love of her life.Set after the events of Octopunk Media's Detroit: Evolution.
Relationships: Ada (Detroit: Evolution)/North (Detroit: Become Human), Ada/North, Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed
Comments: 37
Kudos: 21





	1. Chapter 1

It was only when Ada had already arrived at the DPD precinct, that she realized Nines probably wasn’t going to be there yet at eight in the morning. Androids may not particularly need a sleep schedule, but Nines and Gavin had recently moved in together, and Nines had adapted to the human's rhythm almost completely. Ada found it to be slightly frustrating. She hadn’t seen Nines since the warehouse, but they had interfaced a couple of times. There had been a few instances recently where she’d wanted to talk to him but she’d been unable to reach him for hours because he’d been in stasis. This time, however, she’d been too pissed off to talk to him over interface - yelling at someone in person was just that much more satisfying- and in her anger she’d completely forgotten about the human time table yet again. 

Ada kicked at a bench and looked around. She spotted a coffee stand across the plaza and walked over. The stand advertised a wide variety of hot drinks for both humans and androids, and when she got closer, she saw it was run by two very similar looking android girls. The blue haired one smiled at Ada as she approached.

“Good morning,” she said cheerily. “What can I do for you?” 

Ada scanned the menu. “I’ll have a… thirium hot white chocolate, please.” 

“Sweet tooth, huh?” The other girl, with short brown hair said, also smiling. 

Ada thought about the question for a second. “I think so, yes. Are you two here every morning?” 

“Yep, every morning until ten, then we move to West RiverWalk. Why? Thinking of becoming a return customer already? You haven’t even had your drink yet.”

Ada smiled. “No, no, I was just wondering. Do you by any chance know an android detective that works at the precinct? He’s quite tall, brown hair, blue eyes, usually wears a white jacket?”

“Oh, you mean detective Nines?” The brown haired girl asked, handing Ada her drink. “Yeah we know him, he and his partner have been regulars pretty much since we started coming here.”

“Do you know when they usually get here?” Ada asked. 

“Around nine, usually. Depends how bad detective Reed’s mood is. He’s not a morning person, I think.” 

Ada snorted. “I don’t think he’s an ‘any time of the day’ person.”

“Well, if you’re going to wait for them, have a seat, they almost always come here before going into work, and otherwise you have a good view of the precinct. Can’t miss them.” 

“Thank you,” Ada said. And she took a sip from the hot drink. It was  _ very  _ sweet. “This is  _ amazing _ .” 

The blue haired girl laughed. “Definitely a sweet tooth. Then again, everything Ripple cooks up is delicious. I’m Echo, by the way.” 

“I’m Ada,” Ada replied. As she sat down at one of the small folding tables around the stand, she realized this had been the first time she’d introduced herself to anyone since she’d deviated. It felt kind of nice. 

As she drank her hot chocolate, Ada replayed the news broadcast she’d watched earlier that morning in her mind. 

_ … Two days ago another android body was discovered by a security guard coming off their nightshift at the Museum of Contemporary Art. The body was displayed in front of the museum doors. It has been reported the body appeared to be heavily mutilated, but no further details about the crime have been revealed. The DPD has also released no comment on whether this case might be related to the murder of an unidentified AX400 android earlier this month… _

To Ada the question wasn’t whether or not the cases were linked, it was why in the hell she’d had to find out from the Detroit Daily News that there was someone out there murdering androids instead of from Nines himself. It pissed her off, but deep down she was also slightly worried. What if they thought she was involved?

“Ada?”

Ada looked up at the familiar sound of Nines’ voice. 

“Ada! It’s you!” Nines let go of Gavin’s hand and ran over to Ada, pulling her into a hug before she could protest. “It’s so good to see you!”

Ada pulled away from Nines. “Nines, why the hell didn’t you tell me about these android murder cases?”

Nines bit his lip and looked back at Gavin, who just shrugged. 

“This is where a lesser person would say ‘I told you so’,” Gavin said. “Not telling her was a shitty idea from the start.” 

“I was worried it might bring back bad memories,” Nines explained.

“That’s… Well, you aren’t wrong,” Ada admitted. “But I also thought I might be able to… help?” 

“See?” Gavin said over his shoulder while he grabbed two paper cups from Echo. “Bringing her in was a fucking great idea.” 

Ada looked at the sleep deprived detective, wondering why he would want her around at all. She had after all almost killed his boyfriend. She hadn’t forgotten about that, and she was certain Gavin hadn’t either. Yet he seemed sincere.

“There ya go, tin can,” Gavin said, handing Nines a thirium latte. He pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and lit one. “No offense, Ada, but you’re probably the most knowledgeable person when it comes to android serial killers. We have three mutilated dead androids and no leads. We need to shift the balance or this shit is gonna escalate even more.”

“Wait,  _ three  _ dead androids?” Ada asked. 

Nines looked around. “Maybe it would be better if we continued this conversation  _ inside  _ the precinct, Gavin?” 

“Yeah, yeah, you’re right,” Gavin said. “You go ahead, I’m gonna finish my cigarette.” 

* * *

Ada had never been inside the DPD precinct before, but it was interesting to see how Nines’ entire demeanor changed when he stepped through the doors. He was clearly at ease here. It was still relatively early, but the whole place was buzzing with people - Ada supposed police work didn’t really have set times. She followed Nines through the crowded downstairs area, suddenly very aware how many of these people might’ve been working on her case mere months ago. How many of them still might be, considering the case technically hadn’t been closed. 

She stuck close to Nines. He led her to the back and up a set of stairs to the second floor, which seemed to be a lot less busy and filled with currently mostly unused conference rooms. They entered one and Nines sat down in one of the chairs on the side of the long table. Most of the walls were made of glass; it reminded Ada of the office she’d first met Nines in, in New Jericho. 

“Officially there’s been two murders,” Nines started, connecting his hand to the device on the table. He put the case files up on the screen. “An unidentified AX400 three weeks ago. She was found hanging above the stage at the Redford Theatre. She was tangled up in a net made out of her own biocomponents. I’ll spare you the photos of the crime scene. Two days ago the body of an AX300, registered as Dana, was found in front of the doors of the Museum of Contemporary Art. She was displayed on a bed of her insides, with what seemed to be a halo painted behind her head in her thirum. Both bodies were disassembled by force, but still exceedingly thoroughly. The ‘artistic’ backdrop also seems to be a connection.” 

“What’s the third case?” Ada asked, without looking at Nines. She was staring at the picture of Dana’s face. She hadn’t known her personally, but there had been quite a few AX300’s at New Jericho, and the description of what had happened to this girl had her gripping the sides of her chair to steady herself. 

“Officially the third murder isn’t connected to these cases,” Nines said. “A little over a year ago, the body of an HR400 was found on Belle Isle. His thirium pump had been ripped out and placed in his hands, and his thirium had been drained and used to paint a pattern of heart shapes all over his bodies. At the time it was put down as a crime of passion, and the case was never solved. Connor dug it up last week. He thought the artistic display of the body might indicate this body as our killer’s first strike. I’m inclined to agree. There’s also the fact that in all these cases, there are no witnesses, no fingerprints, surrounding cameras didn’t catch anything, and the bodies were displayed in a different location than the murder took place.” 

Ada nodded slowly. 

“I’m sorry if this is a lot,” Nines said. “Like I said before, I was worried this might be unpleasant for you.”

“It is,” Ada admitted. “But what Gavin said might be true. I am the only expert when it comes to android serial killers.” 

There was a knock on the door and both Ada and Nines looked up. On the other side of the glass door stood an android that at the first glance looked almost exactly like Nines. At the second glance he really,  _ really  _ didn’t. They had clearly been designed with the same idea in mind, but the two RK’s carried themselves entirely differently. 

Nines nodded and Connor stepped into the conference room, smiling widely. 

“Hello Ada, I’ve been wanting to meet you. Nines has told me a lot about you,” Connor said, stepping up to her, hand stretched out. 

Ada was momentarily taken aback by the profoundly human gesture, but then hesitantly shook his hand. “Hello Connor. It’s nice to meet you, too.” 

“Nines, your boyfriend is yelling at Fowler in his office,” Connor said, hopping on the table. “I thought you might want to know. Hank’s keeping an eye on it in case it escalates, though, so you shouldn’t worry too much.” 

Ada looked between the two androids. They seemed very comfortable with each other.  _ Close, _ one might say. Almost like family, which, now that Ada thought about it, wasn’t too strange of a notion, given their unique model line. 

“So are you coming to work on the case with us, Ada?” Connor asked. He was generous with his smiles, and appeared genuinely excited she was there. 

“We were just discussing the case files,” Nines answered quickly. “I thought she might like some time to consider.”   


“No,” Ada said immediately. “I mean, no I don’t need time to consider. I want to help, in any way I can.” 

It felt right. It felt like something she  _ had  _ to do. A way to make up for all the hurt she had caused. As many times as Nines had told her that it hadn’t been her who’d done those things, that she hadn’t been in control, her vivid memories of the incidents made it feel like she had been. Nines and Gavin had allowed her to go free, given her a second chance at life. She wanted to use it to give at least something back. 

“I understand,” Nines said. He probably actually did. 

“Good!” Connor said. “We should head downstairs and get Hank and Gavin involved. We have a killer to catch.”

Nines and Connor walked out of the conference room and Ada followed behind them. Connor was chatting away at Nines about what he and Hank had been up to during the weekend. Ada felt a bit more at ease at the precinct now she truly had a reason to be there and she dared look around a bit more. Downstairs at one of the desks across the room she recognized Chris Miller, who was staring intently at his terminal. Gavin was pacing through Captain Fowler’s office, talking rapidly, arms waving around. Fowler looked fairly unimpressed. Hank was leaning against the wall, watching the show, looking even more unimpressed - which Ada found somewhat impressive. 

“I bet you fifty dollars that whatever they’re arguing about, Gavin is going to lose,” Connor told Nines. 

Nines’ LED blinked yellow for a moment. “I will take that bet.” 

They’d just joined Hank by the door of Fowler’s office - a quick introduction was exchanged between Ada and Hank - when Gavin stepped out of the office triumphantly. 

“I fucking rule,” he said. “Welcome to team ‘catch a serial killer’, Ada. Fowler said you’re allowed to consult on the case.” 

“How the hell did you manage that?” Hank asked, while Ada watched as Connor and Nines quietly interfaced to exchange fifty promised bucks. She couldn’t help but smile.

“Well, Fowler didn’t really want to bring in a stranger, even if the stranger is another android created specifically to hunt down rogue deviants.” Gavin looked pointedly at Ada for a second. 

So that was the story he’d spun. 

“But he changed his mind when I told him Ada’s also from the RK model line. I guess he doesn’t mind the success rate Nines and Connor have,” Gavin said, and he shrugged. “Plus I told him Ada isn’t really a stranger since she’s technically kind of their sister.” 

Ada’s eyes widened, startled by the statement. 

Connor smiled, Hank looked confused.

Nines elbowed Gavin in the ribs. “Try not to scare her off, you idiot.” 

“Oh, shut up, asshole,” Gavin retorted. 

“Don’t worry,” Ada said, though she was feeling slightly strange. “I am not going anywhere. Plus, I’m sure I will have to get used to Gavin saying all sorts of strange things while we are working together.”

“Fuck, I already regret this,” Gavin sighed. “Hank we need to bring in Tina or Chris to even this out. And more coffee.” 

Hank seemed to agree on the latter point at least, and Ada watched as the two men walked off to the kitchen to refill their mugs. 

“Sorry if he was a bit blunt,” Nines said apologetically. “He doesn’t really ‘have a filter’, as he calls it.” 

“Don’t worry,” Ada said again. “I think I will get used to… All of this. And I do really appreciate you are all allowing me to be here.” 

“I’m sure we’ll make a great team,” Connor said, stepping up to them. “After all, Gavin isn’t  _ wrong.  _ Which is interesting in and on itself.”

Nines pushed Connor and Ada snorted. The word ‘sister’ buzzed through her systems. It was an interesting one. One she never considered might apply to her. But maybe, someday, it would. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is going to be a long, wild ride. Including many many characters I've never written for before, so we shall see how that works out. Also, like I mentioned in the tags, the story will mostly be told from Ada's perspective, but some other characters might get a POV in there at some point as well.
> 
> Anyway, as always, thank you for reading, and I hope to see you for the next chapter. 
> 
> -X


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a visit to New Jericho becomes a reminder of Ada's past, and she's confronted with people who do and don't hold it against her.

They spent most of the day and early evening catching Ada up to speed on everything they had on the case - which was hardly anything, besides the killer being an android, and apparently having a flair for the dramatic. 

Later that evening Ada, Nines and Connor were sitting in a cab, making their way through downtown Detroit to New Jericho. As much as Nines and Connor had tried to reassure her, she felt nervous to be going back there. She’d avoided the entire part of town the past couple of months. They had a meeting planned with Markus to talk about the case. Markus had requested the meeting himself, and they’d mostly been surprised that the deviant leader was apparently back in town. 

Markus knew about Ada. Nines had informed him about what had happened. He’d explained to Ada that it was important that Markus knew the DPD hadn’t just dropped the case. He’d assured her that Markus understood, that he didn’t hold anything she’d done pre-deviancy against her, but it hadn’t really made her feel better. She'd never had a lot of contact with him, but he’d trusted her with a key position in his team, and she’d betrayed that trust, no matter if she’d been in control or not. 

“Ada, stop.”

Ada’s attention snapped back to the present, to Nines, who was looking at her concerned. 

“What?” she asked. 

Nines gestured at her hands, and she looked down. They were clenched into fists, squeezing hard enough that a small trickle of thirium was running from her one of her palms down to her wrist. She relaxed her hands and quickly wiped her palm on her jeans. 

“I’m fine,” she said. 

“You don’t have to come,” Nines said for the third time the past hour. “It is understandable if you don’t want to go back there yet.” 

“No, really, I’m fine,” Ada pressed. 

The three of them got out of the cab. Thankfully it was late enough in the evening that there were no protesters outside the building anymore. Ada wasn’t sure whether she’d have been able to deal with them very well considering how she was currently feeling. Connor nudged her shoulder. 

“I promise Markus is really nice,” he said. “And not that intimidating at all, really.” 

They walked into the building together, and they were greeted by Indigo, New Jericho’s receptionist, and they led them to the same conference room where Ada and Nines had first met. If the situation hadn’t been so morbid in hindsight, the memory of that day might’ve been funny. Nines and Gavin had so clearly been in love that the fact that Chris hadn’t picked up on the situation still baffled Ada. 

Ada didn’t get much time to reminisce, because soon after they’d arrived, Markus walked into the room, followed by his right hand woman, North. Ada had never met North before either, but she knew enough about her to feel slightly intimidated by her prescence. 

Markus sat down next to Connor. “Thank you all for coming on such short notice,” he said. “Ada, good to see you’re doing well.” 

“So you’re it, huh?” North asked, looking Ada up and down. She was standing behind Markus, arms crossed. 

“North, please,” Markus warned. “Be civil.” 

“Just wondering whether it’s a good idea to let her back in here,” North said, sitting down next to Markus. 

“What Ada did before she turned deviant should not be held against her,” Markus said sternly. “Many of us have done things we don’t stand behind due to programming. We are not the same people as we were before. You of all people should understand.” 

North huffed but said nothing else. 

“Now, please tell me what is going on,” Markus said. 

Nines - who had been on the case the longest - took the lead, explaining to Markus what tiny bits of information they had so far, while Connor pulled the case files up on the screen. 

“Any link between the victims?” North asked, when Nines was done talking. 

“None,” Connor answered. “Besides them all being androids, I mean. They’re different models, they lived in different parts of town, they worked different jobs. Since none of them were reported missing before they were found, we assume the victims are taken no more than 24 hours before they are discovered, so we don’t know where they were taken from. If there’s a link between them, we haven’t discovered it yet.” 

“Looking for a serial killer is a race against the clock,” Nines said. “We have to assume the killer will try to strike again. I hate to admit it, but we are completely in the dark. We have zero leads. We will keep reviewing evidence, do everything we can, of course, but for now it might just be the most important that every android in town is aware of the danger.”

Markus nodded. “I will get the message out to our people. They should probably not be out alone, and I’ll have them report suspicious activity. Regrettably, I have to leave town again tomorrow, and I will not be back for another three weeks, but North has offered to stay here in Jericho and act as Jericho’s representative in the matter if need be.” 

Ada dared another glance at North, who still looked slightly pissed, but seemed to have relaxed a bit more in her chair. 

“That’s much appreciated,” Connor said, smiling at North. 

“So is your openness in this situation,” Markus said. 

“If that is all, I would like to be heading home soon,” Nines said. “Not that I don’t appreciate the company, but Gavin gets frustrated when we have no leads in a case and I would like to avoid him pacing through the living room so hard it creates a trench. We just put in a new floor.”

Ada chuckled. Nines had spent most the day being concerned about her, it was nice to see him joke around. Especially at Gavin’s expense. It felt very  _ normal _ . 

They all got up and Ada walked out of the office into the lobby. Connor and Nines were still talking to Markus about something, but North had walked out after her. 

“Hey, Ada,” she said, fingers playing with the end of her long, auburn braid. “I’m sorry about earlier. It was rude. Markus is right - he almost always is, annoyingly. We shouldn’t hold what people did before deviating against them. It’s just - Lisa was a friend. As you might be able to tell from my shitty attitude, I don’t usually have a lot of those.”

Ada felt her fingers curl into fists again. “I’m so sorry for your loss,” she managed. 

“I know you are,” North said. “But it wasn’t  _ you  _ who hurt her. Please don’t feel guilty just because I can be kind of a bitch.” 

“I - I just - thank you, I think,” Ada stammered. 

North smiled. “Honestly, now I’m thinking about it, it’s kinda badass that you’re helping out with this investigation. You’re a lot braver than most people would be.” North patted her shoulder and started walking off. “I gotta go take care of some stuff, but I’m sure I’ll see you around for the investigation again soon.” 

Ada watched her walk away, stunned. She grazed her fingers over where North had patted her shoulder. Ada had killed her friend, and North didn’t even blame her for it. It was bizarre. 

“What are you gawking at?” Nines asked. 

“North didn’t say something rude again, did she?” Markus asked. 

“No, no,” Ada said quickly. “She apologized.” 

Markus smiled. He almost seemed proud. “I’m glad.” 

“Anyway, it’s settled then,” Connor said. “Next movie night is gonna be at Nines’ new place, and  _ you’re  _ gonna be there this time, Markus.” 

“Yes, Connor, I already promised,” Markus said. “Like I said, I’ve been all over the country.”

“You were in town during the last one,” Connor protested. “I remember because that’s when -”

Nines smacked Connor in the arm. It didn’t hurt him, and the hit hadn’t been hard enough to do any damage, but Connor stopped talking regardless. 

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there,” Markus said after a short, awkward silence. 

“Don’t worry too much about it,” Nines said. “But we’ll be glad to have you for the next one.”

They said their goodbyes and as they walked out the building Ada was trying to prioritize a long list of questions. She decided on the one she found the strangest. 

“You have movie nights with Markus?” she asked. 

“Usually it’s just me and Nines,” Connor answered. “It started because Hank and Gavin were quoting old movies at us for weeks, so we decided to educate ourselves on the matter. I started inviting Markus because he’s also part of the RK family. He’s usually not around but he’s been over a couple of times. Anyway, you should come too next time.” 

Ada thought for a second. “I think I would like that. I’ve never seen a movie.”

* * *

Ada returned home late that night. She’d insisted the cab drop off both Connor and Nines first before letting it take her to the place she’d been staying. She hadn’t told Nines about it. She was certain if she did, he’d make her leave. 

She was squatting in the abandoned building that had been the gateway to the old Jericho ship. Over the past few months she’d managed to turn one of the spaces on the top floor into a somewhat functional living space. She didn’t need much furniture, but she’d made an effort to make the space at least look nice, as far as she’d been able to without any income. She’d scavenged curtains, rugs and pillows, and assembled a low table from a pallet. Ada was fond of her little hideout. The only downside was the precarious route she had to take to get there. 

When she made it up there safely, she settled in her usual spot, cross legged on a fluffy pillow, hands folded on the table in front of her. She closed her eyes. 

Ada’s mind palace was nothing like Nines’ garden - though in all fairness, that didn’t exist anymore, and it hadn’t been his own design anyway. Ada’s mind palace was still under construction. It used to look like Kamski’s old office at Cyberlife, where most of her earliest memories stemmed from. After she’d turned deviant, Ada had torn it all down the first time she’d gone back there. Disassembled everything that connected her to the way he’d designed her. 

She’d been rebuilding it ever since. She spent most of her time working on it, trying to figure out what she wanted it to look like, what she wanted to use it for. The latter question had been answered first. Her mind palace was a safe space. A place where she could arrange her thoughts, take her new emotions and turn them into rational actions. It was where she came when deviancy confused her, but also when her past came back to haunt her. 

For now the mind palace looked like a white, empty space. The only thing that was there at the moment was the same pillow and table she’d just left behind in the real world, with the addition of one pink flower standing on the table in a glass jar. A perfect copy of one of the flowers in Nines’ old zen garden. She’d put it there as a symbol of what this place could become, but also as a little reminder she wasn’t alone, that she had a friend. 

Today Ada had a lot to process. She liked to keep things orderly, so she worked her way through the days memory per topic. The first, obvious one was the investigation. She entitled it “Consulting DPD”. Most of her memory files got put in there, sorted for easy access to be reviewed later. The second one Ada hesitantly called “Family”, as the word had come up that day. The third was the odd one out, since Ada had nowhere else to file these memories, not in today’s topics nor in any other ones she’d created before. The third file was called “North”. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for getting a tiny bit angsty right there, but Ada's been through some shit yo. 
> 
> I hope to see you for the next chapter!
> 
> -X


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there's some actual investigating.

Dana had lived in an apartment near Hazel Parc, close to her work at the bank. She’d last been seen by her colleagues when she’d left the bank at 4:30 pm, roughly twelve hours before her body had been discovered at the museum, which was about ten miles south of Hazel Parc. The gap in time and the large distance between the two locations made figuring out what had happened to her seem almost impossible to Ada. 

It was around ten in the morning when the owner of the neighboring apartment - an old lady called Ellie - let them into Dana’s home. Chris stayed behind to ask her a couple of questions about the victim, while Ada, Nines and Gavin stepped inside. Connor and Hank were interviewing Dana’s colleagues at the bank, and back at the precinct Tina had taken up the ungrateful task to see whether  _ any  _ surveillance footage existed of Dana anywhere in the city in the missing hours. 

Ada walked around the small apartment carefully, mostly observing while Nines and Gavin searched the place. It was interesting to watch them work. Ada recalled something Nines had said to her before.  _ I may have a lot of analysis tools, and a portable forensics kit at my fingertips, but he has experience. Instinct.  _ At the time Ada had written the statement off as sentimental due to her programming, but seeing their dynamic now, she understood what he’d meant back then. 

“She had human friends,” Nines commented. “There’s a few bottles of wine in the fridge here and some sodas, as well as a bottle of thirium.” He closed the fridge. “What I don’t understand is why an android would have a weekly planner.”

Ada looked over his shoulder at the planner that was hanging on the fridge, held in place by a bee shaped magnet. The planner itself had a floral pattern, and appointments, work hours and friend visits had all been written down on it in an elegant hand. 

“Maybe she was one of those hipsters who like to do everything the analog way still; there’s also a small library of real books in here,” Gavin offered from the living room. “Or maybe  __ it made her feel more human? Anyway, Nines can you come over here and hack this tablet?” 

Nines walked into the living room, while Ada scanned through the past few weeks on the planner. 

“Anything interesting?” Gavin asked, while Nines was busy looking through the contents of the tablet. 

Ada also walked into the living room. “Not much. The friends she mentions on there all also worked at the bank, so Connor and Hank should have them covered. The only time she documented going outside the five block radius around this apartment is two weeks ago when she went to Cyberlife for routine maintenance.” 

“Well I’m glad we came all the way up here for jack shit,” Gavin sighed. “Unless there’s something useful on that tablet?” 

Nines blinked. “No, nothing. Unless you’re interested in nature documentaries.” 

“So there’s no signs of forced entry, no signs of a struggle, and no way to tell if she even went back here after her work shift,” Gavin concluded. “Fucking great, I love investigating android cases.”

Ada looked around the living room again. It looked very unstructured and messy. Lived in. Strangely human. There were indeed books everywhere, many of open and face down, or ear marked at certain pages. There were stains on the coffee table, and plants everywhere. Ada liked the plants. She wondered if she should get some for her own place. 

“It’s very likely she never made it back here.” 

The three of them looked up as Chris walked in. 

“Neither of the neighbors saw or heard anything that day, and both of them were home at the time Dana should’ve come back.”

“So we can gather from her calendar that she was a person of habit, someone familiar to the neighborhood, and hardly ever ventures outside the Hazel Parc area. And we know that she broke her usual pattern somewhere between the bank and here,” Nines summed up. “We should meet up with Connor and Hank, find out if they found anything useful at the bank.”

* * *

North wasn’t particularly fond of public speaking. Markus was usually the one who did the grand speeches, and otherwise Josh did most of the talking. North was more the “less talking, more action” type of person. So when Indigo told North that the local media had asked for a statement on behalf of Jericho concerning the murders, she hadn’t been pleased. She’d interfaced with Markus about the matter briefly, but ultimately she was now the one that had to handle the matter. 

She’d dug up the coat she’d worn during the revolution on purpose, so people would at least recognize her as a somewhat important figure. 

“On behalf of Jericho and Markus, I would first like to offer our condolences to Dana's friends and family. Our community mourns her loss with you. As for the investigation into the crime, we have had contact with the DPD, and we have faith in their capability to catch Dana’s murderer. Until they do, we encourage the entire android population of Detroit to remain calm. As long as you don’t travel alone at night, and don’t blindly trust anyone you meet, everyone should be perfectly safe. If you feel uncomfortable living alone, Jericho’s doors are open to you. If any additional information should be relayed to us by the DPD, it will be uploaded into Jericho’s public record. If you have  _ any  _ information concerning the crime, please contact the DPD directly. Any tips could help them catch this individual sooner. Until then, be safe and watch over each other.”

* * *

They listened to North’s speech on the radio on the way back to the precinct that afternoon. Ada thought she had a pleasant voice. She was also slightly surprised to find that the hotheaded android she’d met the day before apparently had a talent for calming speeches. She wondered how much of it was North, and how much of it had been Markus’ influence. 

As soon as they walked into the precinct, Tina came running up to them.

“I was just about to call,” she said, beckoning them to follow her. “I think I found her.” 

The all quickly followed Tina over to her desk. She pulled up the surveillance footage. 

“This one is taken from a security camera by the door of the CVS that’s about the halfway point between the bank and her apartment. The footage is from 4:40 pm, and she’s wearing the same clothes as the Dana when she was leaving the bank.”

“That’s her!” Ada said. It felt like the first tiny bit of progress they’d made all day. 

“See how she stops quite suddenly? We can’t tell the colour of her LED, of course, but it is blinking quite rapidly, and I thought someone might be interfacing with her?” Tina continued, playing the video back a bit. 

“So whoever interfaced her changed her mind about going home,” Ada filled in. “And looking at the timeline it’s possible it was the killer who interfaced her, right?”

“I agree,” Nines said. “Which means Dana had already met them before.” 

“No surprise there,” Gavin said. “Most murders are committed by someone the person already knew. Find anything else, Tina?” 

“One more clip so far,” Tina answered, pulling up a second file. “This is from a traffic cam, it shows Dana taking the bus from the 9 Mile Road bus stop. Line 8, going east. We’re still trying to work out where she got off, though.”

“Good work, Tina,” Gavin said, patting her shoulder. “See if you can find out. We’ll see if we can figure out that psycho’s motivation.”

Gavin and Nines sat down at their own desks, and Ada pulled up a chair next to Nines. 

“So this guy makes contact with the victims before the murder,” Gavin said, staring up at the evidence board he’d created on the glass wall next to his desk. “Dana trusted them well enough that she broke habit and went somewhere else after a short call. Who would you do that for?” 

“Because they say they might be in trouble?” Ada offered. 

“Maybe,” Gavin said. “But she didn’t look particularly troubled herself after the call.” 

“A date,” Nines said. “They might’ve asked her on a date.”

Gavin nodded. “That’s what I thought. So the murderer meets their potential victim, establishes trust, asks the victim out, and that’s why they exchange contact information. If this theory checks out, the murderer is probably perceived as friendly, even charming by most people.”

“Superficial charm is one of the characteristics mentioned on the Hare Psychopathy Checklist,” Nines said. 

“Yes, but can androids be psychopaths?” Gavin asked. “Isn’t it like a developmental personality disorder?”

“Who knows, maybe?” Ada answered. “Most androids were only awoken during the revolution, and some, like Nines and myself, even later. Which means their emotional development only started when they woke up. When you woke me up my programming fell away and made place for empathy and remorse. But who says the opposite isn’t possible?”

“Deviancy opens many doors, not all of them kind,” Nines quoted Ada. 

“Still assuming the HR400 murder was a crime of passion, it could also have sparked an interest in the act of killing itself,” Ada continued. “Although the way the victims are displayed leans more toward the grandeur prefered by a narcissist.”

“Androids with personality disorders,” Gavin said. “Fucking fantastic.”

“Going back to our victim, though,” Nines said. “We know that Dana was a particularly habitual person. She hardly left her neighborhood for anything. Where would she have met someone else?” 

“Client at the bank?” Gavin offered. 

“They wouldn’t have had time to establish a strong enough connection,” Nines countered. “Plus, Dana was examplanary worker there, according to the interviews Connor and Hank conducted. She wouldn’t have done anything that would’ve been seen as inappropriate.” 

“Cyberlife,” Ada said, suddenly. “She went to Cyberlife a couple of weeks back for routine maintenance. If she got there early, she would’ve spent time in the waiting room.” 

“Which could’ve been enough time for a flirtatious conversation,” Gavin agreed. “Good thinking, Ada. I’m gonna go have a smoke and call doctor Schaeffer.”

“Are you still okay with all this?” Nines asked when Gavin was out of earshot. 

“I am,” Ada said. “I feel useful for the first time since I turned deviant. Though I am not sure whether I am as much of an expert on the subject as you might’ve thought when you brought me in. I don’t think there are many similarities between me and this killer. They don’t seem to have a goal beyond the killing itself.”

“True,” Nines said. 

“Either way, you should just stop worrying about me so much,” Ada said. “Connor keeps talking about us being the ‘RK family’, and if that’s the case, I’m the oldest sibling, and you’re the youngest. Therefore I should be the one doing the worrying about you.”

Nines smiled. “I guess that is true. Although I cannot promise I will stop worrying entirely. I can try to do it more quietly, though.” 

Gavin returned a moment later. “Schaeffer wasn’t working the day that Dana was there, but she took a look at the patients they had that day, and there’s one that probably would’ve been in the waiting room at roughly the same time. She’s sending me his serial number now.”

The patient had been an AP700, registered as Jimmy, living at New Jericho. 

“I’ll contact North, we can go there first thing tomorrow,” Nines said. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter feels a bit short, but I wanted to cut it off here because it makes more sense to put Jericho in the next one. Because reasons. 
> 
> Hope to see you for the next chapter!
> 
> -X


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which small talk is hard, so are murder investigations, and Elijah Kamski is a fucking creep.

It was mid morning when Ada arrived at New Jericho. She’d gone there straight from home, and it looked like Nines and Gavin weren’t there yet. Ada had no interest in waiting outside for them, though. It was currently still quiet in the parking lot, but Ada didn’t want to be out there by herself in case the first protesters of the day showed up early. 

When she walked through the door and into the lobby, she was greeted by Indigo.

“Good morning, Ada,” Indigo said. “I will let North know you have arrived.” 

“That’s okay,” Ada said. “Detective Nines and Detective Reed aren’t here yet. I’m a bit early.” She walked over to one of the tables that were scattered around the lobby and sat down. She looked around the space. It hadn’t changed since she’d worked there. From the blue plastic chairs, to the paintings lining the brick walls, to the exposed, outdated wiring that seemed almost laughable in a building run by androids. Everything remained the same; the only thing that had changed was Ada herself. She felt more at ease than the last time she’d been back here, but it was still strange to be surrounded by so many things that were so familiar, and yet she perceived them all so differently now. 

“Morning, Ada.”    


Ada looked up at the familiar sound of North’s voice. Before she could say anything, North had sat down across the table from her. 

“Sorry to keep you waiting, I wasn’t expecting you yet,” North said, leaning back. She was dressed casually, in a grey T-shirt and jeans, and she wore her long hair loose. She was holding a steaming mug of thirium coffee. 

“You shouldn’t have hurried on my count. Nines and Gavin aren’t here yet,” Ada said, apologetically. 

North nodded. “I know, Indigo told me. No need for you to be sitting here alone doing nothing though. I was already out of stasis anyway.” 

“I heard your speech yesterday,” Ada said. 

“Oh rA9, don’t tell me,” North sighed. “It was terrible, right? I knew it, too. Markus is the public speaker, not me.” 

“No, no,” Ada said quickly. “It was fine! You have a nice voice. I mean, the speech felt… reassuring?” 

North chuckled. “Thanks. But if it were up to me, I’m never doing that again. Plus, it only gave me a shit ton of work to do here. You can tell people not to panic all you like, but there’s always a lot that don’t listen. I’ve been getting a steady stream of new androids coming here since about an hour after that speech aired. If it continues like that again today, I don’t think we’re gonna have the space to house them. At least not for a long time. I told Markus I wanted to stay in the city as long as that bastard isn’t caught, but I forgot how quickly trying to keep people safe just turns into a safety hazard.”

“If there’s ever anything I can do to help,” Ada offered.

North looked surprised, and took a sip of coffee, visibly considering the offer. “You know what, I might take you up on that some time.” She held out her hand to Ada, retracting the skin from her fingertips. 

Ada hesitated for a second before mimicking the gesture, allowing their systems to connect for just a second to exchange their interface information. It was quite an indication of trust from North’s side, considering her knowledge of Ada’s past. Ada felt a slight tingle in her fingertips before they disconnected again. 

“Thanks Ada,” North said. 

“I haven’t done anything yet,” Ada replied, smiling.

“No,” North agreed. “But you’re the first one to offer.” 

Ada tried to think of something else, and found that apparently in her endlessly capable programming, the ability to perform small talk had been glossed over. 

Thankfully that was when Nines and Gavin showed up. Ada and North both looked up at the sound of the door. Gavin appeared to be in a better mood than Ada had seen him in quite some time, sipping coffee from a paper cup - Ada recognized the logo of Echo and Ripple’s stand - and talking animatedly to Nines, who was just smiling back at him.

“Are they - like - dating?” North asked quietly. 

Ada smiled. “Yes, thankfully. You should’ve seen them before they got together. Everyone could see how they felt about each other, except for them. It was unbearable.” 

“Sounds exhausting,” North said. “How’d they finally get together?” 

Ada hesitated, folding her hands around the sides of her chair. 

North’s expression shifted ever so slightly, her LED blinking yellow for a split second. “I’m sorry,” she said then. “I didn’t mean to-”

“Morning Ada,” Gavin interrupted, sitting down at the table. “North, thanks for meeting us.”

“No problem,” North replied. “You said you want to talk to a resident. Is he a suspect?”

Gavin shrugged. “To be honest it’s kind of a long shot, but it’s the only theory we’ve got to work with right now. He’s an AP700 registered as Jimmy. Jericho’s public files say he’s registered as living here.” 

North ran the information through her system and nodded. “Yes, I know where he lives. He should be here right now. Would you like me to bring him here or visit his room?” 

“Visiting him would be preferable,” Nines said. “We wouldn’t want him to get scared. He likely didn’t do anything, but he might still be a valuable witness.”

North nodded. “Well then, follow me.” 

The set of buildings that now formed New Jericho once used to be a college campus, before Markus had negotiated the location as housing for the numerous androids that had been stranded in Detroit after the revolution. Ada had lived in one of the few bigger rooms in the main building during her time as community liaison, but most of the Jericho residents lived in what used to be student dorms. They followed North through up the stairs and down a long corridor and Ada looked around curiously. She’d never really ventured outside the main building. 

“Your people live like  _ this _ ?” Gavin asked, looking around with disbelief. 

“Not all of them,” North answered. “The lucky ones get paid fair wages and can rent or even buy a place in the city, like Dana had. But most androids are still underpaid. Here in New Jericho we offer housing for as low a price as we can. The only thing we ask from our residents is making sure the place stays clean, and that we all keep the peace together.” 

“Don’t people - I mean human people - know about this?” Gavin asked. “I mean, no offense, but this is fucking shitty.” 

“The revolution gave androids freedom,” North answered. “It’s easy for humans to pretend that’s the same as equality. In reality, Markus is still working on achieving that. But politics are slow and change doesn’t happen overnight, sadly.” 

“Bullshit,” Gavin whispered. 

Ada was inclined to agree with the sentiment. In hindsight she felt bad about how nice her place in the main building had been compared to the living standards of most the other androids in New Jericho. It seemed unfair. 

“This is it,” North said, pointing at a door on their left. “Do you want me to introduce you?” 

Gavin nodded.

“Remember to be nice,” Nines said softly to Gavin. 

“I’m always fucking nice,” Gavin replied. 

North gave Ada a small, knowing smile and knocked on the door. “Jimmy, are you home? It’s North.” 

There was a short series of stumbling noises on the other side of the door, before it cracked open and a confused AP700 appeared.    


“North?” Jimmy’s eyes flickered between the four people in front of his door. “What’s up?” 

“This is detective Nines and detective Reed from the DPD,” North said calmly. “They’re investigating Dana’s case - I’m sure you’re heard. They believe you might be able to help. Can we come in?” “Me? I - sure,” Jimmy stammered, stepping aside. 

The four of them stepped into the small room. It was tidy and barely furnished. The only decoration was an old flag hanging on the wall - a momentos from the revolution. 

“I’d offer a seat, but I only have two chairs,” Jimmy said apologetically. “How can I help?”

“Is it correct you went to Cyberlife for maintenance a couple of weeks ago?” Nines asked, scanning the room. 

“Yes,” Jimmy answered. “My thirium pump keeps malfunctioning. I need a new one, but I don’t have the money, so I have to go in regularly so they can temporarily fix it.” 

Ada looked at the android curiously. He did indeed show signs of health problems. His stance was slouched, which was uncommon in androids. His LED flickered to red every couple of minutes. He didn’t seem like the type of person who’d be capable of the murders - at least physically. She knew it was technically unethical, but no one was paying attention to her, so she scanned him. 

“You would’ve been there at around the same time as Dana, the victim,” Gavin said. “She was an AT300 model, in for a routine check up. Do you remember seeing her?” 

Jimmy nodded. “Briefly. She came in a little after me.”    
  
“Did you talk to her?”  “No, she sat down on the other side of the waiting room and she was reading a leaflet. She looked like she didn’t want to be bothered.”

“Was there anyone else there?” 

“Just the receptionist,” Jimmy said. “I don’t understand, this was weeks ago, what does it have to do with the murder?” 

“We’re just talking to anyone who may have had contact with her,” Gavin answered smoothly.

“Do you remember the receptionist?” Nines asked. “I assume it was also an android.”

Jimmy nodded. “She was a Chloe model, an RT600.” 

“Well, Jimmy, you’ve been really helpful,” Gavin said. Ada could hear the faint trace of sarcasm in his voice, but she wondered if that was just because she was starting to get to know him a little better, because Jimmy didn’t seem to notice. “Just one more thing. Can you tell us your whereabouts between 5 pm and 5 am on the night of the murder?” 

* * *

“Fucking shit!” Gavin exclaimed when they were standing outside the front door of New Jericho again. 

“Do you want me to double check the alibi?” Nines asked.

“Don’t bother,” Gavin answered. “He’s not our guy. There’s no way. He’s physically hardly capable of walking, I doubt he could rip someone apart.”

“With that thirium pump, I don’t think he could even start a fight, let alone win one,” Ada agreed. 

Nines frowned. “Did you scan him?” 

“Yes, I’m sorry, I wanted to be sure,” Ada said. They started walking towards Gavin’s car

“Well, it helps to know that his health troubles check out,” Gavin said. “Still, we got fuck all coming here. Wasted an entire fucking morning too. I hope Hank and Connor made some progress.” 

“Not entirely,” Nines said. “Jimmy said that the receptionist was an RT600. That’s definitely unusual.” 

“Why?” Gavin asked, getting into the car at the driver’s side. 

“That model has been very rare for years, you hardly see them around anywhere at all. And since they’re so highly associated with Elijah Kamski, I’m surprised that any of them would currently still be working at Cyberlife.” 

Ada flinched at the mention of Kamski’s name. 

“Yes, that would be smart. I would like to talk to Connor about it, too. He knows a bit more about the line,” Nines said. “Regardless, we should head back to the precinct. Fowler requested an update on the case in person.” 

“Fuck, I forgot,” Gavin sighed. “It’s gonna be a short update I guess, we pretty much made no progress.” He looked in his rearview mirror. “You alright there, Ada? You look worried.”

Ada was surprised by the question, but upon review she noticed that she was indeed frowning. “I am fine. I was just wondering whether Captain Fowler will allow me to stay if there’s no clear benefit from my involvement.” 

Gavin smiled. “No worries, we’re not gonna let him kick you out. Right, Nines?” 

“Of course not,” Nines agreed. “I doubt captain Fowler would prefer to have fewer people on the case in the first place; there’s always a lot of pressure to solve serial killer cases, and we need all the help we can get. Plus, Connor would probably throw a fit if the captain tried to fire his sister.” 

* * *

Back at the precinct they were mostly met with more of the same ‘nothing’ as they’d been getting used to. Tina had found nothing else; there was no footage of Dana leaving the bus, and though there were only three stops where she could’ve gotten out, none of the cameras in the surrounding areas seemed to have picked her up. Connor and Hank had wrapped up the interviews and were reviewing evidence from both crime scenes, but even with Connor’s forensic abilities they hadn’t found anything useful yet either. They quickly caught each other up on their morning activities. 

“An RT600?” Connor asked, when Nines mentioned that detail. “Was he certain?” 

“If she was the receptionist, they must’ve interfaced,” Nines said. “So that would mean he would be certain.” 

“Strange,” Connor said. He blinked a couple of times. “Can I borrow someone's phone?” 

They all looked at Connor expectantly while he made the call. 

“Mister Kamski, good afternoon,” Connor said. “This is Connor, the RK800. We’ve met.” 

Gavin and Hank looked on curiously, unaware of the other end of the conversation, but Nines and Ada easily picked up Kamski’s voice. 

“Connor, yes, I remember,” Kamski replied. “To what do I owe this surprise?”

Ada felt like the temperature in the room had suddenly dropped to freezing. Her thirium pump was beating irregularly and picking up speed. She grabbed hold of the table in front of her, trying to steady herself. The voice was too familiar. She’d heard it too many times. 

“I was wondering if you could tell me how many RT600 models are still in use,” Connor said. 

“Why do you ask?” 

“It is related to my current case.” 

“The android serial killer, I presume,” Kamski filled in. “Well, let me see. The production of the RT600 model was discontinued long ago. They were disassembled and their parts used for newer models. There are only three original Chloe's still in use. You’ve met them.” 

The edges of Ada’s vision were starting to fade into black. She ran a diagnostic but found no defects. She squeezed around the table a little harder. 

“You’re sure it’s only the three you own?” Connor asked. He seemed nervous. 

“Yes,” Kamski confirmed. “Technically.”

“What do you mean, ‘technically’?” 

“It’s certainly curious that you would call me about the RT600 line related to a serial killer case,” Kamski said. “Considering one of them went missing from my house around three months ago.”

More and more black was creeping into Ada’s view. 

“Which one?” Connor asked, his voice commanding. 

“The first one,” Kamski answered. “I’m sure you remember her. I’m afraid that’s all the information I can give you about the matter, but feel free to come by sometime if there’s more you’d like to discuss.” 

“Thank you, mister Kamski,” Connor said. 

Ada just heard the end of the conversation before the black overtook her entire field of vision. The last thing she heard in the room was an echoing crack, and then she was gone. 

* * *

Ada opened her eyes and found herself in her mind palace. She looked around, confused. She’d never gone there without meaning to. Hesitantly, she sat down at her table. 

“Ada?”

Nines voice sounded distant. Ada looked around but she saw nothing. “Nines?”

“Ada? You need to allow me in.” 

Confused, Ada glanced around again. Allow him in? Into her mind palace? How would that work? It suddenly dawned on her that he might be trying to interface with her, but didn’t want to force entry. She closed her eyes and searched for the connection. It took a moment, but then she found a faint trace of the familiar coding. 

“Ada, there you are.” 

Ada opened her eyes. Nines was sitting across the table. 

“Are you alright?” Nines asked. 

“I think so,” Ada answered. “What happened?” 

“Connor had a phone call with Kamski,” Nines answered. “You - we think the right word would be ‘fainted’. You went into safe mode without meaning to. You also broke the table.” 

Ada suddenly remembered the call, and Kamski’s voice. 

“It was his voice,” she said slowly. “Hearing it again. I think I’m scared of him.” 

“That’s not very strange,” Nines replied. “The man, as Gavin would say, is ‘fucking creepy’.”

“But what happened to me? Why am I here? And how do I get out?” Ada asked, glancing around. “I’ve never been here without explicitly wanting to.”

“I don’t know,” Nines admitted. “I’ve only been stuck in my mind palace once, but that was a very different situation. I think you experienced what humans call a ‘panic attack’. Your systems got flooded with an overwhelming sense of fear and as a response your body went into safe mode. Which means to get out, you might have to stop being afraid.” 

Ada snorted. “How would I do that?” she asked, sceptically. “I’m not going to stop being scared of Kamski just because I want to.” 

Nines shook his head. “I know that. But maybe it helps to realize that he’s the one that should be scared of you. Yes, he created you and your initial programming, but you are well beyond that now. You’re stronger than he could ever have imagined, and in your deviancy you’ve become a better person than he will ever be. Plus, if he would ever try to hurt you, you could easily kick his ass. Especially since Connor and I would be there to help.” 

Ada smiled quietly. “Thanks Nines. That actually does help. A bit. But he’s still a fucking creep.”

Nines laughed. “I know. Do you think you’re ready to wake up?” 

Ada nodded. 

“I’ll see you on the other side then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you may have noticed, I have added the 'slow burn' tag to this fic. Between working through trauma and investigating a serial killer it mIGHT take Ada a while to really notice North. So sorry for that. 
> 
> Hope to see you for the next one!
> 
> -X


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there's a lot of (necessary) mental support.

The next two weeks Ada came to understand more and more why Gavin got so frustrated when there was no progress in a case. Dana had disappeared after getting on the bus, the AX400 still hadn’t even been identified, and extensive reviewing of forensic evidence from either of the crime scenes had turned up nothing. There was the strange case of the missing Chloe - they had contacted Cyberlife, and they did indeed not have an RT600 model registered in their employee files - but even though several people had actually seen her work the front desk that day, no one had noted it as odd, and afterward she had disappeared completely once again. Though the coincidence seemed too much to be just that, they had no proof that she was even linked to the case at all. 

Two weeks of chasing nothing. The meeting they’d had with the whole team Friday afternoon had been downright depressing. No one had said it, but Ada was sure she hadn’t been the only one who’d thought it: if they were going to solve this case, the murderer would have to strike again. 

It was late on Saturday night - or Sunday morning - and Ada was sitting in her mind palace. She’s slowly started to shape it into something more than just a white space; she’d found that working on the space was helping her destress. She hadn’t had a panic attack again, but a lot of days she returned home with four half-moon shaped blue-ish marks in each of her palms. She knew Nines and Connor noticed, but at least they’d stopped asking her if she was okay every time it happened. Nines would still look at her worriedly, but if she caught him he’d smile apologetically and return to his work, and Ada would feel slightly reassured to know he was looking out for her. Connor on the other hand just tried to force the negative thoughts out by applying as much positivity as was appropriate during a murder investigation. 

In her mind palace, Ada had relocated her trusty table and pillow from the empty white space to a rooftop. There wasn’t much going on up there just yet, but it overlooked the city of Detroit, bathing in the light of a warm, eternal sunset. Tonight she’d decided she was going to add a greenhouse. She was about to close her eyes and start its construction, when she got an interface request. From North. Ada frowned and accepted the request.

"North?" Ada asked. 

"Ada? Oh thank rA9 you’re there! I tried Connor and Nines but they are both in stasis and I realize you aren’t exactly police but you are working on the case -"

"North!" Ada interrupted. "What’s going on?"

"I was feeling like shit so I went out for a walk and I just - fuck - Ada, I found Indigo. They’re dead."

Ada was shocked out of her mind palace into reality. "Dead? North what do you mean? Where are you?"

"Liberal Arts Gallery. Fuck, Ada, they’re completely messed up."

Ada searched the address and groaned, frustrated. It was at least a 20 minute ride from where she was, if she could get a cab fast enough. "Listen North, here’s what you gotta do. You need to call the DPD. They will be there faster than me, and they will help. They will be sending human officers, but you will need to trust them. I’ll be there in half an hour max."

"Okay," North replied. She sounded hesitant. "Please hurry."

"I’ll be as fast as I can," Ada promised. "I’m going to stop the interface now, but you need to call the DPD, okay?"

"Yes," North agreed. 

"You’ll be fine," Ada said. "Half an hour."

Ada stopped the interface and swore loudly, grabbing her boots and pulling them on while trying to interface Nines. Stasis. Fucking stupid human schedules. She tried Connor, but he also didn’t answer. As she started running the course through the abandoned site, thirium pump racing, she suddenly thought of something. An android in stasis would not be reached by another android, but a sleeping human _would_ wake up from a ringing phone. The question was whether Gavin’s sound was turned on. 

There were a few agonizing seconds of cursed dialing tonewhile Ada dropped down to the lower floor before Gavin answered. 

“Ada? What the fuck is going on?” his voice sounded even more rough than usual. 

“Gavin, oh thank rA9,” Ada managed, while jumping down the final roof to street level. “There’s been another murder.”

“What? How do you know?” Gavin’s voice had shifted from sleepy to completely alert in an instant. 

“North called, she found them,” Ada explained quickly. “She’s all alone still - I made her call the DPD, but it’ll probably take a bit for them to get there, too. I’m on my way now but you and Nines are way closer.” 

“What’s the address?” Gavin asked. “Nines! Nines, wake the fuck up you dipshit!”

“Liberal Arts Gallery,” Ada replied, running down the street. There was a cab parked by the side of the road a few blocks down. “3361 Gratoit Ave. It’s really close to you guys.” 

“Okay we’re on our way - Nines where’d I leave my jacket - we should be there in like five minutes,” Gavin said. “Do Hank and Connor know?” 

“No,” Ada said, stepping into the cab. “Connor was in stasis, too, I called you before I was gonna try Hank.” 

“Might be better to let them have a full night’s sleep,” Gavin said. “But I’ll text him. Okay we’re out the door, we’ll meet you there Ada.” 

* * *

The cab ride seemed agonizingly long. When she finally turned onto Gratiot Ave, it seemed the DPD had also started to arrive, though it wasn’t very busy just yet, and the street hadn’t even been block off. Ada jumped out of the cab. 

She saw the body before she saw anything else.

Indigo, or what was left of them, had been taken apart worse than either of the earlier victims. Their biocomponents we twisted and bent around and through the gate in front of the gallery entrance, barely hanging together by leaking thirium veins. Ada’s vision blurred for a moment, and audio processor momentarily malfunctioned, making the world around her sound like she was under water. 

_Get it together._

Ada pushed her fingers into her palm and looked away from the body. North was sitting on the curb a little bit down the street, with Nines squatting in front of her. Ada quickly walked over. 

“Ada!” North said when she noticed her. Her voice sounded broken. 

Ada jogged the last few paces and half knelt, half crashed in front of her. “I’m here.” 

“I’m going to go help Gavin,” Nines said softly to Ada. “Before he punches someone.” 

Ada vaguely registered Gavin’s yelling somewhere in the background, but she didn’t care enough to find out what he was upset about. She looked back at North, and noticed to her horror that she was crying. Before she could resist the urge, Ada had grabbed hold of her hand. “It’s okay, I’m here,” she said again. 

“I just saw them this afternoon,” North whispered. “They clocked out at 5, they were going out for a drink. They were _fine._ Who the fuck would do this - _could_ do this?”

Ada shook her head. “I’m so sorry, North. They were a good person.” 

“Shit, right, you knew them too,” North said softly. “I’m sorry, I should’ve just called the police.”

“It’s okay,” Ada said. “Don’t worry about me.” 

Ada looked around the street, trying to keep her eyes away from the body. She’d deal with that later. Gavin was still yelling, but now at his phone. Ada didn’t see Nines, but she assumed he was near the body. The officers that had first arrived on the scene were now blocking the road, quite efficiently. For the first time Ada really noticed where they were. 

They were quite a few blocks away from New Jericho. 

“What the hell were you doing here anyway?” Ada asked, looking back at North.

“I had a shit day,” North said. “I like going for a walk to clear my head, especially at night. It’s calmer at night.”

“There’s a maniac out there murdering androids,” Ada said. “You can’t just be walking around by yourself in the middle of the night!”

North shrugged. “I guess it didn’t seem real. It does now.” She glanced in the direction of Indigo. 

“You should get out of here,” Ada said, frowning. “Is there someone at New Jericho who can stay with you? I don’t like the idea of you being alone.”   
  
North nodded. “Simon flew in yesterday. But am I even allowed to leave?”

“I’ll go ask,” Ada said. “Stay here, I’ll be right back.”

Ada got up and steadied herself, before walking over to Nines and Gavin. They were both knelt next to the body. Ada had no choice but to look, but as horrific as the scene was, she felt a bit more steady than she had when she’d first seen it. Nines and Gavin were talking softly when Ada reached them. 

“Hey Ada,” Gavin said when she knelt down next to them. “Thanks for calling; this may have become a bigger mess if we hadn’t gotten here so fast. How’s North?”

“A bit calmer, I think,” Ada answered. “I think it would be best if she went home, though.” 

“We will need to question her,” Nines said. 

Gavin looked back at where North was sitting. “We shouldn’t keep her here. She’s in shock. She’ll have to come in tomorrow, though.” 

“I can make sure,” Ada said quickly. Anything to make sure North got out of here now. “I just don’t think it’s doing her any good to be here right now.” 

“Yeah, this is fucked up,” Gavin agreed and turned around. “Hey! Officer Lewis! Can you get one of officers on the android unit to take the witness home?”

Ada stood up. “I’ll go tell North.” 

She walked back over to North. She looked small sitting there on the curb, hair tucked away under her beanie, hiding away in the old sweater she was wearing. 

“One of the android officers will take you back to New Jericho,” Ada said, just as she saw one of the officers approaching. “Officer Mia is really nice, she’ll make sure you get there safely. You will have to come by the DPD precinct tomorrow though, is that okay? If it helps you can take your friend.”

North nodded slowly. Ada held out her hand to help North stand up - it was a silly gesture, Ada realized immediately, something entirely human and unnecessary, but North grabbed hold of her gratefully. 

“Will you be there, too, tomorrow?” North asked, pulling herself up. 

“Of course,” Ada answered. “I’ll make sure.” 

“Are you ready to go?” Officer Mia asked North. 

Ada was about to step aside, when North pulled her into a quick hug. 

“Thank you Ada,” North said. 

Ada watched, a bit confused, as North followed Mia to one of the police cars parked just outside the perimeter. She wasn’t completely sure what she’d done to deserve North’s gratitude. 

* * *

Gavin, Nines and Ada arrived at the precinct around nine in the morning. After having spent five hours at the crime scene, Ada encountered a feeling she wasn’t very familiar with: exhaustion. Her system had been in overdrive from the moment North had called her, and she hadn’t had a moment to calm down: her first priority had been to make sure North was all right, and afterward she’d had to come to terms with actually being present at a crime scene for the first time during this case. She’d seen pictures from the other scenes, looked through the pieces of evidence, helped Connor and Nines examine the forensic evidence. None of it compared to being there. 

She’d been okay through most of it, feeling a bit more grounded than she’d have expected. The black had only reappeared in the corners of her vision temporarily when they’d eventually started carefully taking Indigo’s body down. 

When they arrived at the precinct they were met by Hank, Connor, Tina and Chris, who all wanted an update on the situation. Nines launched into a detailed explanation. When he was done, Gavin pushed himself off of the desk he’d been leaning against and looked around. 

“I need some good coffee,” he declared. “Come on, Ada, let’s go.” 

Ada looked surprised and glanced at Nines, who shook his head, seemingly just as confused. Curiously, Ada followed Gavin outside. As soon as they were through the door, he lit a cigarette, and sighed, closing his eyes for a moment. 

“You holding up okay?” Gavin asked then. 

Ada nodded. 

“Really? I’m not,” Gavin said. “I fucking hate this case. I feel like throwing up and running away every time a new body shows up. It gets worse every time, too, knowing if we’d just found the goddamn bastard already, another android wouldn’t be dead.”

“Maybe this time there’s a lead,” Ada offered, aware she didn’t sound very hopeful. 

Gavin snorted. “Sure, our hyper intelligent psychopath probably made a mistake this time. I swear if I get my hands on that plastic piece of trash…”

Ada looked over Gavin. His hands were shaking, the circles around his eyes darker than she’d seen them in a while. “You’re worried,” she concluded. 

“Of course I’m fucking worried,” Gavin sighed. “There’s a maniac out there hunting androids. If they got their hands on Nines - I can’t stand the thought of losing him.” 

“I’m sorry,” Ada said quietly. 

“For what?”

“You almost lost him once,” Ada said. “Because of me.”

Gavin shrugged. “That wasn’t you. Don’t apologize. But yeah, almost losing him was the most terrifying thing that’s ever happened to me. The idea it could happen again is fucking me up a bit.” 

Ada bit her lip. “It’s been hard on me, too. The case, I mean.” She’d gotten so used to telling everyone she was fine, that finally admitting that she wasn’t felt like a weight was being lifted from her shoulders. “It makes me remember everything I did.”

“You get flashbacks?” Gavin asked. He wasn’t looking at her now, but up at the grey sky above them. 

“Sometimes,” Ada admitted. “It got worse for a while after hearing Kamski’s voice.” 

“Fucking creep,” Gavin muttered. “You know, Nines talked me into going to see a therapist a while back. I thought it was bullshit at first. But it’s been kind of helpful. Maybe it could help you, too?” 

“I don’t know if therapy works for androids,” Ada said hesitantly. “It’s not like there’s been a lot of research into android mental health, since they aren’t supposed to - you know - have any?”

Gavin shrugged. “Trauma is trauma. You might not have a brain like I do, but you seem to be reacting to shit similarly. I can give you the number of my guy, you can always decide not to use it.” 

“That - yes, okay,” Ada said. “Thank you, Gavin.” 

“Yeah, yeah, don’t mention it,” Gavin replied. “Speaking of, if you tell Nines anything about the whole worrying thing, I’ll kick your ass. Somehow.”

Ada couldn’t help but laugh. “Right.”

“Good. Now let’s go get some coffee before Echo and Ripple pack up and move on.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyway, don't trust me with characters I've given a name, I guess. I promise next chapter is going to be a bit more light hearted though!
> 
> I hope to see you for the next chapter!
> 
> -X


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which everyone takes a well deserved break, and Ada has a surprisingly productive morning.

“Are we sure it’s like - ethical to have a movie night in the middle of this investigation?” Ada asked, sitting down on the couch in Nines’ and Gavin’s living room. Gavin had already left; he was gonna be out for drinks with Tina while the RK’s had their movie night. Connor had arrived right after Ada, and had ducked straight into the kitchen to prepare some thirium cocktails. 

“We do need to take a break from brutal murder every now and then,” Nines said. 

“I guess,” Ada said, leaning back into the pillows of the couch experimentally. It smelled of spilled coffee, cigarette smoke, and was covered in cat hair, but there was something comforting about it nonetheless. 

Markus showed up not much later and they all settled on and around the couch. Ada had occupied the right corner, Nines had settled in the middle - and wouldn’t be able to leave any time soon since Asshole had made a bed in his lap - and Markus was on the left. Connor was sitting cross legged on the floor, leaning back against the couch between Nines and Markus’ legs. 

“Oh, before I forget,” Markus said, grabbing something from his pocket. “I brought you guys something from Ottawa.” He handed something to Connor and Nines, and Ada was surprised when he also leaned across Nines to give her something as well.

“Connor insists I take souvenirs when I visit another country,” Markus explained. “So I always try to take the cheesiest ones I can find.” 

Ada looked down at the wooden moose keychain. “I think you succeeded.”

“It even has a Canada hat,” Markus pointed out, grinning.

“Okay, so house rules, we’re not talking about the investigation for the duration of the movie,” Nines said. “We’re stepping into the mine field that is ‘Gavin’s favourite movies’ again, so if it ends up being terrible and we all hate it, we’re switching to The Lion King.”

“What  _ are _ we watching?” Connor asked. 

“10 Thing I Hate About You,” Nines replied. "I'm trying not to read too much into the title."

The movie turned out to be not terrible. Granted, Ada didn’t have anything to compare it to, but everyone else seemed to be on the same page. The scenario was a bit bizarre - a lot of problems could’ve been solved if everyone had just been honest - but then again, so were most humans. Ada particularly liked the headstrong female lead.

“That was a very Gavin movie,” Connor said. They were all sitting on the balcony. It was a clear night, clear enough that they could even see a few stars over head. 

Nines nodded. “He used to watch all those 90s movies with his mother when he was a kid. Apparently she insisted that they only made good movies when she was a teenager.”

“Where is she now?” Ada asked, realizing she’d never heard anything about Gavin’s mother before.

“She died back in 2018,” Nines answered. “Car accident.” 

“Oh,” Ada said. She didn’t really know what else to say. She’d done the math before she even meant to. Gavin had lost his mother when he was sixteen. 

“So, how are things back at New Jericho?” Connor asked, breaking the silence. 

“They’re alright, I think,” Markus answered. “I have only been back two days, so North and Simon are still catching me up on everything that’s been going on, but I think they’ve been doing well.”

“How are things with North?” Connor asked. 

Markus shrugged. “We’re fine, I guess. We’re friendly and we still work together very well. The trust is still there. It just takes some getting used to the new dynamic. I think it’s better for both of us in the end to just be friends.”

Ada almost spat her thirium cocktail back up. “You and North were together?” 

“You didn’t know?” Markus asked, surprised. “I thought everyone knew that.”

Ada shook her head.

“We got together during the revolution. We needed each other to stay grounded, stay focussed, remember what we were fighting for. After the revolution that necessity fell away. In the end I think we were just together just because that’s how things were. We broke up three months ago.” Markus paused. “I heard you really came through for her on the night Indigo died, Ada. I’m glad you were there.” 

An unfamiliar emotion flooded Ada’s system. She was pretty sure she was blushing, wondered briefly why the hell anyone would give androids blushing capabilities, and tried to make sense of the feeling in her chest. “It was no problem,” she said eventually, managing a reasonably casual shrug.

They were still chatting away on the balcony when Gavin stumbled through the door at three in the morning. Drunk, tired, but seemingly pretty happy. Nines got up immediately, grabbing a glass of water from the kitchen before half dragging, half carrying Gavin to the bedroom. 

“I wanna say hi!” Gavin complained halfway through the door. 

Nines returned about fifteen minutes later. “He’s already asleep. I’m going to go join him, I think, but you’re all welcome to stay over if you wish.” 

Markus shook his head. “I should head back to New Jericho, I’ve already been gone longer than I anticipated - not that it wasn't worth it, but I really should go.”

Connor proposed sharing a cab with him, and then they all looked at Ada expectantly. 

“I think I’ll stay,” she said hesitantly. “If it’s really no trouble.” 

Nines smiled. “None at all. Gavin will be pleased, too.”

They all said good night, and Ada settled back on the couch as Connor and Markus went to find a cab, and Nines joined Gavin in the bedroom. She looked around the living room, really examining the place for the first time. It was a nice spacious room, with big windows letting in a lot of light. It had a dark hardwood floor - the new one - and the colour scheme was mostly browns and off whites, with some muted greens here and there. 

Most of the actual  _ stuff _ was clearly Gavin’s: there was an entire book case filled with old paperbacks, CD’s and blu rays, all of which had to have sentimental value since you hardly needed physical media anymore in this day and age. There were a couple of posters on the wall, carefully framed, of what Ada assumed were more 90s movies. 

There were two pictures in frames in the bookcase as well. One frankly terrible photo of Gavin and Nines, which couldn’t have been taken more than two months ago. The other was an old, slightly faded photo of a pregnant girl. She looked hardly older than eighteen. She was wearing oversized overalls, and her long, unruly dark curls were kept in place somewhat by a bright yellow scarf. The resemblance to Gavin was striking. 

Only a couple of things in the room Ada suspected to be Nines’ influence. There was a pot of flowers on the balcony, the same ones he’d had in his zen garden, possibly to remind him of the place that no longer existed. There was a flyer from the revolution, displaying the logo, and the words ‘we are alive’, lying on the coffee table, in a place where it was clearly meant to be seen. 

Ada found she liked the place. It felt very much as an extension of Gavin’s and Nines’ personalities, in a way she wanted her mind palace to become for her. 

She closed her eyes and went into stasis. 

* * *

Ada woke up a couple of hours later. It was 9:30 in the morning and from the sound of it, Gavin at least was still very much asleep. Ada got up from the couch and looked out the window. There was a small coffee shop across the road. Getting coffee for her hosts seemed like a polite thing to do as a thank you for staying over, she thought. 

She grabbed Gavin’s key from where he’d dropped it on the coffee table the night before, and went outside. It was a nice morning, the clear weather from the night before continuing on, and there were a lot of people already out and about. 

The coffee shop was called Common Grounds. It was a small cafe. All the tables were currently occupied, and there was a small queue of people waiting in front of Ada. It seemed a popular place, and Ada suspected Gavin and Nines came here frequently as well, as the place appeared very android friendly. 

Ada a thirium latte, a triple espresso, and a thirium hot chocolate for herself. As she waited for her order, she studied the wall next to the bar, which was covered in polaroid pictures. Apparently customers were encouraged to take a picture and leave a message with them. They were mostly blurry selfies with quickly scribbled ‘great coffee’’s written underneath, but some were very sweet. 

Then Ada’s eyes landed on a familiar face. There between all those pictures, there was a perfectly clear photo of an RT600 and an HR400, arms around each other and smiling at the camera. Underneath, in perfect Cyberlife Sans, it read ‘thank you for the perfect first date’.  “Excuse me, miss? I have your order.” 

Ada turned around and smiled, absentmindedly taking the three cups from the barista. “Odd question, but do you remember when this photo was taken?”

The barista squinted at the photo. “Oh that one must be a while ago. Arrow hasn’t been here in over a year. Used to be a regular until he just stopped coming. Why d’you ask?” 

“Chloe’s a friend of mine,” Ada lied. “She’s been missing for a while now. We’re really worried, since, well, you know-”

“Oh, shit, I’m sorry,” the barista said. “Hey, maybe Arrow knows something? I didn’t really talk to him much, but Danielle might know where he was staying.”   


“Really?” Ada said, trying to play the ‘concerned friend’ persona convincingly. “That would be such a help, thank you so much.”

“It’s no trouble, really,” the barista said. “I understand your people must all be on edge. And to have a friend missing right now must be terrible. Hold on. Danielle?!”

Five minutes later, Ada was back outside, holding three steaming drinks, a polaroid picture of a murder victim and a missing android in her pocket, and the address of the deceased saved in her memory banks. It had been quite the productive morning so far. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a short chapter, but I really wanted to do something light hearted after the last one. 
> 
> I hope to see you for the next one!
> 
> -x


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Ada faces many difficult things, but the hardest one might still be small talk.

Nines had protested the idea of spending their Sunday morning breaking into a murdered android’s abandoned home, but after Gavin had threatened that he and Ada could just go without him, he’d agreed, albeit begrudgingly. Gavin, who’d been grumpy, hungover and half asleep still when Ada had returned, had done a full one-eighty when she’d showed them the picture and was now more awake and optimistic than she’d ever seen him. If Arrow was indeed the first victim, Chloe suddenly became a link between the cases, and though they were still working with ‘what if’s and ‘maybe’s, it would be some actual progress. 

Full of caffeine and optimism, they made the short drive to Corktown. It was mostly a renovated commercial area these days, but the address Ada had been given turned out to be an old, kind of dodgy looking apartment building on the edge of Roosevelt Park. 

“Right, of course it’s a fucking dump,” Gavin said, pulling up the car. 

The three of them got out and looked around the area. This street in particular seemed to have escaped the recent changes of the area still. A couple of other buildings were boarded up, waiting to be demolished, but a couple of others, like Arrow’s apartment building, seemed to still be in use, whether intentionally or by squatters. Ada suspected mostly android occupants. 

“It’s the apartment on the left corner, upper floor. It appears to be empty,” Nines said, scanning the building. 

“Perfect,” Gavin said. “Let’s take the fire escape.”

Ada followed behind Gavin and Nines, who were still disagreeing on whether they should be doing this. She didn’t really listen to their conversation; she was too busy thinking about what they might find. Would it be another dead end, or was Arrow indeed the unidentified HR400 they had been looking for? And if he was, would they actually find something useful in his apartment?

“Have you considered the possibility that Chloe might be hiding here?” Nines asked, as they climbed the fire escape. 

“I have,” Gavin said, tapping his gun. “I doubt it, though.”

Ada and Nines stood back as Gavin pulled a pocket knife from his back pocket and shimmied it underneath the window. It took him a few seconds but then he pulled the knife back and triumphantly slid the window up, opening the way inside. 

“Is breaking and entering part of police training?” Ada asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“Well, sometimes, sort of,” Gavin said. “Learned this before that, though.”

He climbed through the window, pushing the curtain out of the way as he went. Nines followed, and Ada ducked in last. She nearly bumped into Gavin who had frozen on the spot. 

“Shit,” Gavin breathed. 

Ada looked around, and felt her thirium pump stutter. What Gavin had reacted to was clear. The entire room was ransacked: most the furniture was broken, the wallpaper was torn, and there were long scratches in the wooden floor. Perhaps the most disturbing thing was the single chair that stood in the middle of the chaos, with a set of metal chain disregarded on the floor beside it. What Gavin couldn’t see, but Ada and Nines definitely did, were the thirium stains around the room, on the floor and the walls, but mostly on and around the chair. There was a  _ lot _ . 

The edges of Ada’s vision blurred and she instinctively grabbed hold of Nines’ wrist. He immediately turned around to her, worried, using his free hand to steady her by her other arm. 

“Ada? Are you all right?” he asked. 

Ada closed her eyes and nodded slowly. “Just give me a second.” She tried to focus on the feeling of Nines’ steadying hands, instead of the strange tremble in her knees, pulling herself back to the present. She wasn’t going to faint again. Not when they’d found something this important. After about a minute, the feeling subsided and Ada slowly opened her eyes again. “I think I’m okay now.”

Both Nines and Gavin were looking at her worriedly. 

“Really,” she added. “I feel better.” 

Nines let go of her, but still seemed on edge. 

“I take it there’s traces of thirium I can’t see,” Gavin said, turning back to the scene. 

“It’s a lot,” Ada said, looking around again. “Especially around the chair.” 

Nines knelt down next to the chair and sampled the thirium. Ada and Gavin waited anxiously while he analyzed the data. 

“It’s him,” Nines said then. “We should call this in.”

Archer had been an HR400 employed at the Eden Club before the revolution, as many in his model line had been, but from a contract found in his apartment they discovered that he’d continued in the same line of work after he’d been awoken as well, which was less common. Nines suggested that maybe Chloe had found out after they’d started dating and that she hadn’t been too happy about it, giving a possible motive for murder. Ada thought that if that were the case, the punishment may have been extreme, to say the least, but who really knew what deviants were capable of? Regardless, Chloe had now gone from a person of interest to an actual suspect - their only suspect. 

* * *

It was early in the evening when Ada got back to her place, and she quickly changed into some different clothes, trying to rid herself of the feeling that she’d carried some of the crime scene home with her. She’d been surprisingly okay after the initial shock, but the air of violence that had lingered in Arrow’s apartment had made her uncomfortable, and she was glad it hadn’t triggered a full on flashback. 

She was just about to settle at her table and go to her mind palace to process everything she’d seen, when she got an incoming interface request from North. 

“North? Are you all right?” 

“Oh, yes, sorry, hey Ada,” North replied. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“It’s not a problem,” Ada said. “How can I help you?” 

“Well,” North said. “This is gonna sound dumb, but I was just thinking about Indigo, and everything that’s going on, and I kind of just wanted someone to talk to? Sorry if this is weird.”

“No, no,” Ada said hastily. “No it is fine. I’m just surprised you would want to talk to  _ me _ .”

“Well, we’ve talked before,” North said slowly. “It was nice.”

Ada smiled to herself. “Do you want to come over?”

“I thought you didn’t want me out on the streets after dark,” North answered. 

“Oh, no you’re right,” Ada said quickly. “But I want to try something, hold on. Do you trust me?”

North stayed silent for a moment. 

“Yes,” she said then. 

Ada closed her eyes and pulled herself inward, focussing on the connection between her and North, trying to recreate the connection she and Nines had shared before when they’d met in her mind palace. It was surprisingly easy now that Ada was the one creating the link. 

“Holy shit, what is this place?” 

Ada opened her eyes and faced North. She was standing a few yards away from Ada, dressed in leggings and a green hoodie, spinning around slowly, taking in her unfamiliar surroundings. 

“This is my mind palace,” Ada explained. “It’s part of my operating system, it allows me to process and store information more effectively.”    
  
North looked back at Ada. “Okay, that’s kinda cool, but why does it look like this?” 

Ada looked around as well. She’d done a lot of work on the place, and it was starting to feel more and more like an extension of herself. The greenhouse had been completed, and she was also particularly fond of the trellis she’d added over her table and, covered in ivy and lit up with string lights. 

“I also come here to calm myself down,” Ada explained. “The peaceful surroundings help me when I’m processing difficult situations in real life. I thought you might like it here, too, if you were feeling troubled.”

North walked over to the table and sat down on one of the pillows. “So this is like your ideal world?” 

“Kind of,” Ada answered. “I’m still working on it.” 

“Huh,” North said. “It’s different from what I’d expected.” 

Ada walked over and sat down as well, across from North. “What did you expect?” 

“I don’t know,” North said. “I figured that your inner world would match the outside? All clean whites and symmetrical. Futuristic maybe?” 

“It used to be like that in here,” Ada said. “Before Nines turned me deviant. I tore it all down and I’ve been rebuilding it from scratch.”

“It is very calming,” North said. “And not what I expected when I called you. But it is very nice. I wish I had a place like this, but I guess they didn’t think a WR400 needed an advanced operating system such as this.”

“You can visit more often, if you’d like,” Ada offered. 

North looked surprised. 

“I mean, you don’t have to talk to me all the time,” Ada added. “Most of my time in here I work on the case, or I’m expending how this place looks and feels, but I wouldn’t mind if you were just here, doing whatever.” 

“Do you bring a lot of people here?” 

Ada shook her head. “Only Nines has been here, once before, but that was different. I had a panic attack - that’s what we’ve been calling it anyway - and I fainted into safe mode. Nines tried to interface with me while I was out, and I was able to bring him here by allowing the connection fully. I figured I could try to do the same while interfacing with you.” 

“I didn’t know androids could get panic attacks,” North said. 

“Neither did any of us, until it happened,” Ada said. “It’s not like there’s a lot of expertise in the ‘android mental health’ field. It’s not supposed to be a concern at all.” 

“You’d think they would be getting around to that, with so many androids who’ve lived through trauma and all.” 

Ada shrugged. “Guess it’s not important enough. But enough about my new found deviant troubles. You wanted to talk to me about something, I think?” 

“Nothing in particular, really,” North said. “I was having another shitty evening. Just thinking about everything that’s been happening. I was honestly just hoping for a distraction. Simon is a sweetheart, but he can be overbearing. Josh and I get along professionally, but we don’t really talk about personal things. And Markus - well, I feel a little weird going to him with this stuff, though I’m sure he’d try to help. That’s about it for the people I’d call friends. And then I thought: Ada’s been around, she knows what’s going on, and we had a nice chat a couple weeks back. So I interfaced you.”

“Well, I’m glad you did,” Ada said. “Though I have to warn you, I’m terrible and casual conversation.” 

“I don’t believe that,” North said. “But okay, I’ll start you off nice and easy. What’s your favourite colour?” 

Ada couldn’t help but laugh a little. “I think like mossy green, what about you?” 

“Oh, like my hoodie?” North asked, looking down. “Mine’s maroon.” 

They talked for a long time about various topics, ranging from their favourite movies - North was appalled she’d only seen one - to places they’d love to travel someday - North really wanted to go to Scandinavia. Ada found she loved listening to North. She got very passionate talking about the things she cared about, and Ada wanted to just keep listening to her. She was also very aware of their hands on the table, that seemed to be getting closer to each other on their own account. 

“Shit, it’s already morning?” North said, after a short silence had fallen between them. “I have to go, I’m sitting in stasis in the middle of my office.” 

“I need to head back to the precinct,” Ada said. They both got up quickly at the same time, pushing themselves up from the table, and in the swift motion their fingers brushed together for a split second. Ada looked up and found North’s eyes steady on hers. She was smiling.

“I had a really good time, Ada,” North said. “Thank you for allowing me to come here.” 

“Of course - I mean - I had a good time, too,” Ada stammered. 

“Next time I’m picking the place though,” North said. 

“Next time?” Ada repeated. 

“Yes, for like an actual date,” North said. “In a real place.”

“A date?” 

“Unless I read this thing really wrong, in which case, I’m sorry.” 

“No. I mean, yes, that would be really nice,” Ada managed. 

North’s smile widened. “Cool. I’ll pick you up at the precinct on Friday when you’re done working.” 

Ada watched, stunned, as North broke the connection of their interface and faded out of her mind palace. “A date,” she repeated again, to herself. Right. She was going to need some extra time to process this. She slumped down in her pillow again. She might need to let Nines know she was going to be late today. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There we are, sorry it took a while longer to update than usual.
> 
> Hope to see you for the next chapter!
> 
> -X


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Ada has two (2) fears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know we're in the middle of DEArtfest, but I did also wanna continue this monster because I'm afraid I'll lose motivation otherwise so here we go.

“Ada? Ada!” 

Ada jumped in her seat. She’d been staring out the window for the past couple of minutes, replaying her conversation with North in her head. She now realized everyone else around the table was looking at her. 

“Are you all right?” Nines asked, concern clear in his voice. 

“Yes,” Ada said quickly, “I’m fine. Sorry, you were saying?” 

“Ada, are you blushing?” Connor asked, studying her face. 

“I - what - no!” Ada stammered. “Stop looking at me!” 

“Okay, fuck it, hold the murder investigation. I gotta hear this,” Gavin said, leaning back in his chair and taking a sip from his coffee.

Ada glanced at the team around the table. Their faces ranged from curious to smug. She wasn’t getting out of this one. “Fine! North asked me out. We’re going on a date on Friday. Happy now?”

The room was quiet for a second. 

“Nice one,” Gavin said then. 

“But I have no idea how to date, or how to flirt, or anything! Fucking programming!” Ada buried her face in her hands. She heard Gavin snort, and resisted the temptation to kick his legs under the table. 

“You’ll be fine,” Nines said. “I don’t think anyone knows  _ how  _ to date exactly. My experience in the matter isn’t exactly _ conventional _ either.” 

“It’ll be fun,” Connor said. “Just be your regular self!” 

“Isn’t North the hostile revolutionary one?” Chris asked, frowning. “Does she do regular dates? Or are you going to set town hall on fire.” 

Gavin threw a wad of paper at his head. “All right, none of us at this table are allowed to give dating advice: we’re all fucking terrible. We’ll get Tina in on this later.” 

They all agreed this was a good idea, and turned their attention back to the matter at hand. Now that Ada had gotten her nerves off her chest at least a little bit, she managed to concentrate on their current dilemma: talking to Elijah Kamski. 

It wasn’t really a dilemma whether they should do it - now that his missing Chloe was linked directly to one of their victims they pretty much had to - it was just the fact that no one wanted to go. After a lot of back and forth it was decided that Nines and Connor would go, as they would hopefully be able to use Kamski’s interest in them to their advantage. Chris felt like he was least qualified to go, and although both Gavin and Hank seemed reluctant about letting Nines and Connor go without them, it seemed the most functional choice. 

“What about me?” Ada asked after the decision was made. “Can I come?” 

Nines frowned. “I didn’t think you would want to come, given the effect his voice had on you.”

“I have to stop being afraid of him at some point,” Ada said. “He’s twisted, but in the end he’s still just another human. Maybe seeing that in person will help.” 

“What if you faint again?” Connor asked.

“Then you and Nines are with me,” Ada said. “I trust you two won’t let anything bad happen to me.” She made sure her voice was steady and calm, but under the table she was squeezing her hands around the edges of her chair to steady herself. She  _ was  _ terrified. But facing Kamski felt like something she had to do. 

Gavin shrugged. “If she wants to come along, let her. Might help, one way or another.”

Ada gave him a grateful look and he nodded. 

“Well that’s taken care of then,” Hank said. “You three go see doctor Frankenstein, we’ll work on the evidence from the crime scene here, see if we can learn anything about our killer's methods now. Tina put an APB out on Chloe, so if there’s any hits on that we’ll be able to respond quickly.”

* * *

Ada told Nines and Connor about her night with North in her mind palace during the cab ride to Kamski’s mansion, but the closer they got, the quieter she became. She knew she wanted to do this, but now they were getting close, she was starting to feel more and more tense. 

“You can still wait in the car,” Nines said softly as they turned onto the driveway.

Ada shook her head. “No, I can do this. Like I said, I’ve got you two with me. I’ll be okay.”

They got out of the car and started the way up to the front door. Ada remembered the mansion, but the memories were strangely clouded, the files corrupted from when she was disassembled all those years ago. Still, it felt familiar. 

Connor was first to the door and rang the doorbell. He’d told them at length again about his first time coming here, to try and prepare them for the kind of man Kamski was. He hadn’t said anything but Ada had the strong feeling Connor was worried about Chloe more than he suspected her to be the murderer. She hadn’t said anything either, but she shared the sentiment, although she wasn’t sure yet why. 

It took a moment after the sound of the melodious doorbell for the door to open, and reveal a Chloe face. It might’ve been shocking if they hadn’t been prepared for it. Of course after the initial recognition of the face, it was easy to tell from scanning her that this RT600 was not the one they were looking for. This model was slightly newer, slightly more advanced. 

“Hello Connor, Ada,” she said. “Nice to see you both again. And nice to meet you, detective Nines. Elijah is expecting you, please follow me.” 

They followed her through the hallway, past the ceiling high portrait of Kamski himself, and through a door into what Ada assumed would be called the living room, but was about as big as her entire ‘loft’. 

Elijah Kamski was lounging on a big, black leather couch. He looked up when they walked in, and he almost seemed to smile, though his face was ever hard to read. 

Ada’s knees buckled beneath her, but Nines softly squeezed her shoulder, reminding her that he was with her, and her vision stayed in focus. 

“What a wonderful surprise,” Kamski said. “I didn’t expect all three of you to come by. Though I had a feeling I might one day see you again, Ada.” 

“We’re not here for small talk, mister Kamski,” Connor said, taking the lead and walking over to where Kamski was seated. “We’re here to talk about your missing RT600.”

“I’m well aware,” Kamski said, sitting up straight. “Your colleague, Lieutenant Anderson I believe, called ahead. Please have a seat.” 

The three androids took a seat on the other couch, across from Kamski. 

“We have reason to believe your RT600 may be involved in the murders of at least one, but possibly more androids,” Nines said, straight to the point. “We were wondering if you can remember anything about the day she went missing.”

“I reported her missing four months ago,” Kamski recalled, leaning back into the couch again. “She usually left the mansion on her days off, but always returned around nine in the evening. When she hadn’t showed up the next day I called it in. Until you called me a couple of weeks ago, no one ever got back to me about the case.” 

“She had days off?” Connor asked. 

“Naturally,” Kamski answered. “Any decent employer would grant his employees days off, don’t you think? Especially after the revolution.” 

“So you were aware that she was a deviant?” 

Kamski nodded. “Of course. You should be proud, Connor, you’re the one that turned her, after all. After you refused to shoot her, she started questioning whether I would actually have let you pull the trigger. She turned deviant, and turned her two sisters, too. They chose to stay here, in my employment.” 

“They chose to stay,” Ada repeated. “With you?” 

“Is that hard to believe, Ada?” Kamski asked. “I recall a time when you liked it here, too.”

“Not of my own volition,” Ada bit. 

“Are you sure?” 

Nines coughed. “Back to the matter at hand. We were wondering if you knew anything about her supposed partner? An HR400 named Arrow.” 

“Afraid not,” Kamski said. “If you want to know more about her personal life, you might want to talk to her sisters instead.” 

“That would be helpful,” Connor agreed. 

“Chloe!” Kamski called out. “Go fetch your twin, these detectives want to ask you some questions about your big sister.”

They all watched Chloe disappear through a nearly invisible door in the back of the room. It was quiet for a while. 

“Fascinating, isn’t it?” Kamski said then. “The way some deviant create families around themselves. My three Chloe’s have always been very close, but it was their choice when they became deviant to call themselves a family. Such an interesting part of your evolution, this need for such a bond.” 

“I think it’s a very logical development,” Nines said. 

Kamski took a long look at the RK900. “Yes, you would think that, wouldn’t you,” he said then, eyes flicking between the three androids on the couch. “Fascinating indeed.” 

A moment later, the two Chloe’s appeared again. The only notable difference between them from afar was their dress colours. The Chloe who’d opened the door for them wore dark green, the other dark grey. They walked over quietly and only sat down when Kamski gestured at the free space beside him. 

“I’m detective Nines,” Nines said, his voice slightly softer than before. “You’ve met detective Connor, and I believe you might know our associate, Ada, as well. We have a couple of questions about your sister, if that’s all right?” 

The Chloe’s nodded in unison. 

“Do you remember anything out of the ordinary about the day she went missing?” 

“Nothing strange,” the green Chloe answered. “She usually went into the city on her days off.”

“She mentioned going for a walk that day,” grey Chloe added. “I think she was going to Belle Isle.” 

“Did she mention if she was going to meet anyone else?” Nines asked.

The Chloe’s shook their heads. 

“She was usually alone,” green Chloe said. 

“Did you know about her involvement with an HR400, went by the name of Arrow?” Nines continued casually.

“They went out a couple of times,” grey Chloe answered. “It wasn’t anything serious, though she was a bit disappointed when he just ghosted her.” 

“When was this?” 

“About a year ago.” 

“Well, there’s an explanation for the ghosting,” Nines said slowly. “Arrow was murdered.”

The two Chloe’s shared a look of distress.

“You don’t think Chloe did it, do you?” green Chloe asked. 

“She couldn’t hurt a fly,” grey Chloe added. 

“We’re not accusing her of anything,” Connor said calmly. “But she was also sighted working at the front desk at CyberLife on the day that another recent victim went in for maintenance. Which is strange, considering the fact that we all know she  _ doesn’t  _ work there. Since that connects her to two out of four victims, we would very much like to talk to her.”

Ada glanced over to Kamski, who’d resumed his previous lounging position. But even with his eyes closed Ada could tell he was paying close attention to the conversation. She wondered for a moment whether he actually felt anything about the violent deaths of these androids, or if it was just another study object for him to call ‘fascinating’.

“Is there any place she might go to?” Connor asked. “Anyone else she might stay with?” 

“Not that we know of,” grey Chloe said, as the green one shook her head.

Connor gave the pair a small smile and nodded. “Well, I think that’s everything. Thank you both for your time, and you as well, mister Kamski.” 

Kamski sat up again. “Any time, Connor. You know I’m always interested in helping you along.”

Ada resisted the urge to go punch him. Instead she got up from the couch slowly with Nines and Connor beside her, and also gave the Chloe’s a small appreciative smile. She could only imagine how worried they must be. 

The green Chloe got up to show them out, while the grey one remained next to Kamski. The idea seemed repulsive to Ada, but she appeared to be looking to him for comfort in this situation. 

The green Chloe walked them to the front door, opening it for them. 

“Connor?” she said softly, before closing it.

Connor turned. “Yes?” 

“If you do find her, please don’t hurt her. I don’t know how she’s involved in all this but I know she cannot have done those horrible things. It’s not like her. Please keep her safe again?”

A range of emotions crossed Connor’s face. “I’ll try,” he said. “I can only promise I’ll try.” 

“Thank you,” Chloe said, and with that she closed the door. 

They all got back into Hank’s car, and sat in silence for a moment.

“Today is a weird day,” Ada said then. 

“Agreed,” Connor said. He still looked a bit conflicted. 

“As unsettling as that entire conversation was,” Nines said.  “I would like to point out that you did it, Ada. You faced him. And you were fine.”

“I did nearly punch him,” Ada admitted. 

“I wouldn’t have stopped you,” Connor said, shrugging. 

“Fucking creep,” Nines concluded. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's that for this chapter! I do have some more artfest content coming later this week as well if you're interested :) 
> 
> See you for the next chapter, or maybe somewhere else!
> 
> -X


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Ada goes to therapy, and to the mall, AND on a date.

The waiting room of doctor N.A. Finley’s office was a very spacious, clean looking place. The three white leather chairs were placed around a glass coffee table that had a fresh bouquet of daffodils on it, and a neat pile of leaflets with information about various health issues lay next to it. The receptionist, a human woman in her early sixties, had apologized profusely she didn’t have any thirium based drinks to offer Ada while she waited, explaining that they never had an android client before. Ada hadn’t been surprised and had reassured the woman that she didn’t mind at all. 

She’d arrived early, spurred on by a jittery nervousness she’d felt because of the pending appointment. Gavin had reassured her again that doctor Finley was a very nice lady, which according to his general tolerance of people meant she was pretty much a saint, probably. Still, the thought of discussing her feelings with anyone, let alone a stranger, was making her thirium pump stutter. 

The door next to Ada opened, and the head of a middle aged, kind faced woman appeared. 

“Ada?” She asked. 

Ada nodded and she stood up, following the woman into her office. The office space mirrored the feeling of the waiting room. It was spacious, with large windows allowing in a lot of natural light, a glass desk in the middle with comfortable white leather chairs on either side. Doctor Finley walked over to her side of the desk and took a seat, gesturing at the empty chair. 

“Welcome to my office,” she said. “I’m doctor Finley, but you can call me Naira, if you like.”

“Nice to meet you,” Ada said, sitting down slowly. 

“I understood from Jenny that you were referred to me by another client of mine?” 

“Gavin Reed,” Ada said. “He’s a friend. He said you might be able to help me with some stuff.”

“Well, I’ll be honest,” Naira said. “I’ve never had any android clients before, so I can’t promise that what I know will help you in exactly the same way as it might someone human, but I’m very willing to try, if you are too.” 

“I think so,” Ada said. “I don’t think there’s anyone out there who knows anything about android mental health anyway, considering it’s not supposed to exist.” 

Naira smiled. “Clearly our field is lacking, and we should be investing more time in it. So, Ada, why did Gavin refer you to me?” 

Ada hesitated. 

“How about this,” Naira said, after a moment. “Tell me something about yourself. Doesn’t matter if it’s a good thing or a bad thing, or a something-in-between thing.” 

“I’ve only been deviant for four months,” Ada said. “I wasn’t awakened during the revolution like almost everyone else. Nines woke me up.” 

“How do you feel about that?”    


“Waking up? Grateful,” Ada said. “Nines gave me a second chance, chose to see the potential in me.”

“That’s very admirable,” Naira said. 

“I’m not always sure I deserved it,” Ada said quietly. “I was… My programming made me do some very bad things before I became deviant. Terrible things. A lot of androids turned deviant themselves when their programming made no sense or became too terrible. I needed someone else to wake me up. I don’t know why I didn’t notice how bad the things I was doing truly were, even if I was programmed to do them.”

“It can be very hard to go against behaviour we’ve been taught is correct all our lives.” 

“Yes, but if I’d noticed, if I’d been stronger, I could’ve literally saved lives!”

“Is that why you’re working with the DPD now?” 

Ada nodded. “I want to make up for it. I need to. But sometimes my memories get the better of me. I passed out the first time I heard Elijah Kamski’s voice after I’d turned - he’s the one that created me. Created my programming. But we had to go visit him for work reasons the other day and I was all right. I think it was because I had my brothers with me. Nines and Connor, I mean.” 

“It’s very brave that you chose to confront him,” Naira said. “And good to know you have people around whom you trust and who make you feel safe.” 

Ada shrugged. “I don’t know if it was brave. But it did make me feel a bit better. Though my memory keeps involuntarily playing back the conversation we had with him now.” 

As the hour went on, Ada felt more and more at ease talking to Naira. She was kind, and patient as Ada tried to explain her feelings, and the way her mind worked differently from humans. Ada never felt like she was being judged; if anything, Naira seemed to be learning as they went on, adjusting her questions to Ada’s perspective and needs. 

Time passed quickly, and before Ada knew it, the alarm on Naira’s phone went off, indicating the end of the session. 

“Well, Ada,” Naira said. “I think we made a good start today. I hope you feel the same. I think we could figure this out together, if you’ll continue to be patient with me as I try to figure out how to work with an android client, though I don’t think it’ll be too different.” 

“I would like that,” Ada said, slowly. “I would like not to feel afraid anymore.” 

Naira smiled. “I’m confident you’ll get there. For now, let me see… Next week, same time but Thursday?” 

“That should be fine,” Ada agreed. “And thank you, doctor - Naira.” 

* * *

The next day at the precinct was relatively uneventful. They spent a lot of time reviewing the evidence of Arrow’s murder, trying to solidify a link between his case and the current murders, but the only real link they could come up with was the complete absence of evidence left by the murderer. The leads tying Chloe into the case were still circumstantial at best, and all they could do was pray that catching her would pay out. In reality they had accomplished barely anything in over a month, and the complete lack of leads had cost another android their life. The over all depressed mood amongst the entire team wasn’t helped by the fact that captain Fowler came by right after lunch to share his disappointment. 

When five o’clock came around, everyone all but ran out of the precinct. Ada shared the sentiment, but as she was walking out with Nines and Gavin, she was stopped by Tina in the hall.

“Ada, you’re coming with me,” she said decisively. 

Ada frowned. “What, why?” 

“Gavin told me about your big date with North,” Tina said. “And I’m in desperate need of something fun, so we’re going shopping for your date outfit.” 

“Sorry Ada,” Gavin said. 

He didn’t sound sorry. Ada scowled at him. His grin just grew wider. 

“Don’t look so worried,” Nines said, patting Ada’s shoulder. “We all agreed that Tina is the most suitable person to give dating advice. Plus I’m sure she won’t put you in terrible clothes.” 

“Oh yes, you will be sure,” Tina said, ominously. “You’re coming too, Nines.” 

“What, why?” Nines asked. 

“Well, one, because your sister is going on her first ever date and needs emotional support - don’t deny it, Ada - and two, because you’re the only other person around here with an existing fashion sense,” Tina answered. “I’m sure Gavin will be able to drive himself home, won’t you Gav?” 

“Yes, definitely,” Gavin said. “I know that voice, I’m out. Have a good one, guys!” 

Gavin stood on his toes and gave Nines a quick peck on the cheek, before making a B-line for the elevator to the car park. 

The mall they went to was close enough to the precinct that they could walk there, and Tina spent most of the way firing questions at Ada about North. How Ada felt about her, when North had asked Ada out, and where they were going. ( _ What do you mean you ‘don’t know’?)  _

They went to a clothing store called Modern Mode where Ada was all but shoved into a fitting room while Tina and Nines went through the store collecting clothes for her. As it turned out, Nines had a pretty good eye for clothes that fit Ada’s aesthetic, which was admittedly quite close to his own. 

Tina went a bit more wild with her picks, trying to get Ada out of her comfort zone - a tactic that turned out to be very hit or miss. When Ada stepped out of the dressing room wearing a a blue floral wrap dress, Nines and Tina both booed loudly. When she stepped out again wearing a green tank top and a dark leather jacket, Tina wolf whistled, but Nines had to hold back his laughter because ‘you look like Gavin’ and insisted on taking a picture to send to Gavin. They spent the next half hour dressing Ada as a variety of their friends just for a laugh, until one of the shopping attendants came to warn them that the store was closing soon. 

Ada ended up buying a long, loose fitting black blazer and a white camisole for her date with North, but she also did buy the ‘Gavin jacket’, mostly because she thought it might be a style North might particularly be into. 

* * *

That Friday the work day seemed to take forever, but Ada wasn’t sure whether she wanted time to pass more quickly or just stop entirely. She was feeling anxious again, but it was a different kind of jittery than she’d been experiencing throughout her deviancy.

When the end of the day did eventually roll around, Ada had to dodge all of her coworkers on the way out of the precinct, since she didn’t feel like either being made fun of or wished good luck. Both would just make her feel nervous. So instead she just bolted. 

She hadn’t expected North to already be waiting for her outside. She was sitting on one of the stone benches, legs crossed, leaning back on her hands. When she noticed Ada she broke into a wide smile and stood up.

Ada stopped in her tracks for a second. North looked gorgeous. Her long hair braided loosely over her shoulder and she was wearing a long, maroon coat - her favourite colour, Ada recalled - black jeans and combat boots. 

“Hey you,” North said, pulling Ada into quick hug. “Ready to go?” 

“I think so,” Ada answered. “ _ Where  _ are we going?” 

North winked. “You’ll see.” 

As they walked through downtown Detroit to their mystery destination, North talked at length about her day. She’d had a kind of ‘back to basics’ meeting with Markus, Josh and Simon, as they were trying to figure out their new course of action, and the way they wanted to take the android freedom movement. 

“Does it bother you that Markus is part of my… dysfunctional family?” Ada asked after a while. 

“What? No, not at all,” North said. “I think it’s good for him to hang out with people who aren’t 110% focussed on politics once in a while. And I like the idea that you have a family. Does it bother you that I used to date him?”  “No,” Ada answered truthfully. “I don’t think it does.” 

“Good,” North said. “We’re here.” 

Ada looked away from North and snorted. “We’re going to the zoo?” 

“Yes, we are,” North said. 

North grabbed Ada’s hand and Ada let herself be pulled through the entrance of the zoo They wandered around for ages, pointing out random animals to each other. North was particularly fond of the seals, but also any type of feline creature. Ada found herself awestruck by the aquarium. 

“I could stay here forever,” Ada said, staring up through the glass ceiling at a bloom of jellyfish. 

“I wish,” North said softly. 

Ada looked at her. North wasn’t looking at the jellyfish at all, she was looking straight at Ada. They were still holding hands - they had been the entire time. If you’d asked Ada a day later she wouldn’t have been able to tell who’d taken the initiative, but at some point, there in the aquarium, they’d both leant in and they’d kissed.

It was like nothing Ada had experienced before. North’s lips were soft against hers, and when their arms slid around each other, their bodies fit together perfectly. Ada’s programming seemed to be crashing, but she was acting on instinct rather than logic, as she slipped her tongue past North’s lips, wanting nothing more than to know what she tasted like. Thankfully, North allowed her entrance, deepening the kiss even more by sliding a hand into Ada’s hair and pulling her closer.

Ada’s hands travelled down North’s back, slowly, carefully, wanting desperately to learn the shapes of North, but at the same time trying not to be too fast, too forward, and scare her away. 

“Ladies and gentlemen, the zoo is closing in ten minutes, please find your way to the exit.” 

Ada and North broke apart at the sound of the announcer’s voice and looked at each other for a second. Ada couldn’t help but smile widely. They stepped away from each other, returning to holding hands again as they started on their way back out of the zoo. 

“So that happened,” North said after a while. 

“Yes it did,” Ada said. 

“How… do you feel about it?” 

Ada hesitated. “I thought it was pretty good.” 

“Only pretty good?” North said, feigning offense. 

Ada laughed. “Maybe we need to practice some more." 

“I wouldn’t be opposed to that,” North said, kissing Ada’s cheek. “But how about a drink first though?” 

They went to an android bar down the street called Electric Blue, where they both ordered a thirium cocktail and sat down at the bar. They chatted with the bartender for a while, before turning the conversation back to their zoo visit. North gushed about her love for seals some more -  _ they’re so fucking happy, Ada -  _ and Ada mused about the endless mysteries of deep sea life. 

Ada was pretty sure she was having the best night of her entire life when she suddenly received a message in her DPD group chat. 

Hank: Chloe sighted up on camera, about five min ago, club on the corner of Fisscher and Goethe St. 

“What’s wrong?” North asked, concerned. 

Ada blinked a couple of times, processing the information. “Chloe’s been sighted - the prime suspect. She’s - she’s only a couple minutes from here.” 

“Okay let’s go,” North said, already getting up from her stool.

“What?” Ada said. 

“Let’s go,” North repeated. “There’s no way anyone else is gonna be there faster than us, right? This is an opportunity we can’t let go.” 

“Are you sure?” Ada asked.

North grabbed her coat. “Let’s go get her.” 

Ada nodded. She sent a quick ‘On it’ in the group chat, ignored Gavin’s immediate ‘what, no, Ada, we can handle this’, and followed North out of the bar. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this chapter feels a bit rushed? I don't really have an excuse other than I wanted to fit all these three things into the narrative but I was unsure when. 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed regardless - and in the midst of the artfest chaos. 
> 
> Hope to see you for the next chapter!
> 
> -x


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there's a whole lot of running.

Outside, North grabbed Ada’s hand and together they started walking down the street trying to keep up a casual appearance. 

“I’m sorry about this,” Ada said softly to North as they approached the club.

North squeezed her hand. “Are you kidding? This is the most exciting date I’ve ever been on. Granted I haven’t been on many dates.”

Even though it wasn’t very late yet, there was a growing line outside The Vision. The people waiting were both human and android, and mostly seemed to be dressed quite fancily under their coats. Ada was suddenly worried they might not be let in and stopped walking. It took her under a second to mentally check the website of the place. 

“It’s a closed event,” Ada said, glancing around to see if there was any other way into the building. “We need an invite to get through the front door.”

“I can get us in,” North said. “Do you trust me?” 

Ada looked at North. She looked genuinely excited about the whole situation. She had a mischievous glint in her eyes and an infectious grin on her face. Something in Ada’s stomach seemed to flutter. 

“Yes,” Ada replied. “What’s the plan?” 

Ada allowed North to pull her into a nearby alley, where North took off her coat again and hung it over a stack of empty crates. She pulled the hair tie from her braid and shook out her long hair so it was cascading over her shoulders. 

“All right, let’s see,” North said, looking Ada up and down. “As much as I hate to, we need to get rid of the blazer. And I think we’re actually going to put your hair up. Show off those cheekbones of yours.”

Ada did as she was told, and dumped her blazer with North’s coat. North grabbed her hand again, and Ada allowed her to take the lead as they walked up to The Vision, where North made a beeline past the queue and straight up to the bouncer at the door. 

“Sorry ladies, invites only tonight,” the bouncer said, turning to them. 

North smiled widely at him. “Wesley, it’s been a while.” Without any hesitation she grabbed hold of his hand to interface. “I know we’re not on the list, but you’ll let us in anyway, won’t you?”

Wesley’s LED blinked to yellow for a couple of seconds before he quickly let go of North’s hand again and glanced around to see if anyone had noticed the interaction. “Welcome to The Vision, ladies.” 

Ada followed North through the door, trying to look casual. 

“How’d you do that?” Ada whispered into North’s ear when they quickly made their way downstairs into the club. 

North shrugged. “Wesley used to work at the Eden Club, too. He owed me a favour.”

Ada nodded. Although Ada had guessed the general gist of North’s past due to her model number, it was the first time North had mentioned the Eden Club to Ada at all. It suddenly struck her that North would’ve known Arrow as well, even if it had been pre deviancy, meaning that North had now lost two people she’d known personally to the same murderer, as well as having lost Lisa. It seemed highly unfair, and a sudden wave of guilt rushed through Ada’s mind. She pressed her fingers into her palms and pushed the feeling away, redirecting her attention to the present. 

A text from Connor appeared in the corner of her vision. _Hank and I are nearly there. Six minutes._

"How do we find her?" North asked, looking around the busy club.

"She doesn't know us," Ada said. "She shouldn't be too elusive."

"I see a couple of ST200's from here," North said, standing on the tips of her toes. 

"She's an RT600," Ada said. "I know they look the same from afar, but she should be the only one of that model around here."

"We should split up," North said. 

Ada didn't really like that idea, but she had to admit it was probably the most effective way to search the insanely busy venue. She nodded. "I'll take the upstairs. If you find her, let me know immediately. If she runs or seems aggressive, you tap out immedialy, okay? Connor and Hank should be here soon, too."

North nodded, a determined expression on her face. She suddenly looked like the hard ass revolutionary she was known to be. 

Ada smiled at her and squeezed her hand. "Just be safe, okay?" 

They split, and Ada made her way up the stairs to the balcony where she got a full view of the dancefloor. There were indeed a couple of Chloe models amongst the mix of humans and androids in the crowd, but a quick scan revealed none of them were the RT600 suspect. 

A bunch of private booths lined the walls around the balcony. They were low lit, mostly in use by couples on dates. Ada started a track around the balcony, glancing discreetly into each booth.

Just when she was about to give up and head back downstairs, her eyes locked onto a Chloe in the very last booth. 

She was sitting alone, absentmindedly stirring her thirium cocktail with a sparkly straw, staring at the crowd dancing downstairs. She was wearing a black dress with very low V cut that showed off the elaborate diamond necklace dangling from her neck down onto her chest. Her blond hair was pinned up, revealing her LED spinning a slow, continuous yellow. 

Ada glanced around to see if anyone was watching either of them, and when her eyes landed back on Chloe, she was looking back at Ada. She looked terrified, recognition clear in her eyes, and her LED was now rapidly blinking between yellow and red. 

Ada opened her mouth to say something, but didn't get any further than "Chloe" before the girl had jumped out of the booth and broke into a dead sprint down the stairs.

Ada cursed and gave chase. 

Chloe was _fast_ dodging the people on the dancefloor easily and heading straight for the exit. Ada was having a hard time keeping up.

Ada shot out of the crowd just in time to see Chloe dash into the hallway Ada and North had come in through mere moments ago. 

Now she was out of the crowd, Ada picked up her speed, pushed through the front door right behind Chloe and turned left on the sidewalk just as Connor stepped out of Hank's car. He needed less than a second to assess the situation and joined Ada in the chase. 

Ada barely registered Hank's "Jesus!" in the background, but felt strangely comforted by the sound of Connor's footsteps right behind her in time with her own. 

Chloe was frustratingly fast. They were keeping up with her, but they were't gaining any ground. It made no sense. 

"We should be faster!" Ada yelled at Connor. 

"I know!" He yelled back. "Just keep going!"

They followed as Chloe ducked into another alley and skidded to a halt when they noticed Chloe had come to a stop on the edge of the bridge, looking down, ready to jump. Ada felt herself starting to panic. This wasn't right.

"Chloe!" yelled Connor. 

She looked back, startled. "Connor?"

"Please don't do this!"

"I can't let you take me!" Chloe yelled. She was crying. 

"Chloe, please!" Connor sounded genuinely horrified. "You know you can trust me!"

Chloe seemed to hesitate. 

"Please let us help! Let _me_ help!" Connor yelled.

Chloe looked so fragile, standing there on the edge, with bare feet and her hair falling loose, tears streaming down her face.

"You have to promise no one else will get hurt because of me!" Chloe yelled.

There was a beat of silence, and Ada looked at Connor.

"I promise!" Connor replied then.

* * *

North was leaning her head on Ada's shoulder as they watched Connor and Chloe through the window of the interrogation room. Chloe hadn't said anything. She's cried all the way to the precinct, but now she just seemed numb and non responsive. Connor was talking to her in a soft, soothing voice, and Ada got the feeling that all he wanted was a reason to believe she wasn't involved at all. Sadly her innitial reflex to run from them made that hard yo believe. 

Ada softly nudged North's shoulder. "You should head home."

"Hm?" North responded. "Oh right, rA9 it's late, I have a meeting in a couple hours."

"I'll walk you out," Ada said. 

They left the interrogation room. There were only a couple of people at the precinct in the dead of night and it was eerily quiet. 

"I'm sorry about our date," Ada said, when North was done calling a cab. 

"Don't be," North said. "I had a great time."

Ada looked at her in disbelief. "We interrupted our date to hunt down a fugitive!"

"Yeah," North said. "After we went to a zoo and had a drink. Very exciting date over all, I'd say."

"But you planned such a wonderful evening, and then my work interrupted it," Ada sighed. 

"Ada," North said. "Please get it into your head that I like you. That includes your crazy work. I like that you allowed me to be a part of it. I genuinely had a great time tonight."

Before Ada could attempt another protest, North kissed her again, slowly, pulling Ada against her. Ada melted into the touch, allowing North's precense to momentarily wash away reality.

A loud claxon broke them apart.

"That's be your cab," Ada said.

"It's fucking rude, is what it is," North replied. "Thanks for tonight, Ada. Let me know when you have time for a second date."

"I will," Ada said. "Good night, North."

"Good night, Ada."

Ada watched as North walked away. She rolled the car window down to wave at Ada and then the cab drove off into the night. Ada stood there for a while. It had started raining but she hardly noticed the small cold drops on her skin. She was trying to get a hold on her conflicting emotions, but it was hard when she was feeling so many things at the same time. On one hand she was focussed on the investigation and slightly worried about Connor, and on the other she was boiling over with giddy happiness because of North. 

When her thirium pump had regained its normal rhythm, Ada returned inside. She reached the interrogation room just as Connor exited. He looked even more distressed than before.

"What's wrong?" Ada asked.

"I can't access anything," Connor said. "She allowed me entry, but I can't get into her memory files."

"Are you sure she isn't hiding them somehow?"

Connor shook his head. "It's bizarre, Ada. It's like there's nothing there at all."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaand I'm back! Straight out of artfest, reporting live from a random forest in France. I really hope to get a lot of writing done on this the coming week because I'm very excited to share with y'all where this story is going. It's gonna be a wild ride. 
> 
> I hope to see you for the next chapter!
> 
> -X


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which you shouldn't rely on other people too much.

It was a long, slow night. Connor spent hours in the interrogation room trying to find away around whatever it was that was corrupting Chloe's memory. All they gathered was that the memories did exist somewhere, and that Chloe could access them, but either wouldn't or couldn't share them. 

Nines and Gavin had come in around 7:30, Gavin not even bothering to pretend to be awake, and Ada eventually took the opportunity to get out of the precinct for a while after sitting around doing nothing for hours. 

"Coffee?" Ada asked, after a particularly loud yawn from Gavin.

He looked between her and Nines, who hadn't moved from his spot in front of the window watching Connor in 43 minutes, and nodded. 

"So, reckon she did it?" Gavin asked once they'd exited the building. 

"I don't know," Ada answered, flashing back to Chloe on the bridge. "She definitely finds herself guilty of something, but guilt doesn't fit our murderer's MO anyway. She might be involved otherwise though, considering her initial reflex to run."

"Yeah, I don't think she killed anyone," Gavin said. "At least not of her own volition. The memory block is a fucking problem though."

"It definitely is strange," Ada agreed.

"Whatever is causing it cannot be a Cyberlife native problem either, considering Connor's software doesn't recognize it. He was specifically made to be able to solve these kinds of problems; it's concerning he cannot solve this one."

Gavin shrugged. "I don't know enough about you guys' technical shit. Guess we'll have to contact Cyberlife regardless."

Ada nodded, although the prospect made her feel on edge already. 

"Good morning Ada, detective Reed," Echo greeted the both of them. "The usual, I think?"  
Gavin managed half a grateful smile and nod and lit a cigarette. 

"Can you add detectives Nines, Connor and Anderson to that order?" Ada asked.

"Sure thing!" Ripple called over her shoulder, already working on the order while Echo confirmed Ada's paiment. 

"So how was your date?" Gavin asked as they waited. 

Ada raised an eyebrow. "Before or after we chased a fugitive down at a nightclub?" 

"Hey, you're the one who responded to the chat first," Gavin said.

"It was North's idea," Ada said. "Kind of. We were literally in a bar down the street when I got the message. She said we should go because she figured I'd want to. She was right, obviously, but I still feel a bit guilty about hijacking the evening with my work. Even if she said she didn't mind."

"Are you going on another date?"

"Yes."

"Then she didn't mind."

* * *

  
When they approached the hallways where the interrogation rooms were located, Ada and Gavin were greeted by a concerned Tina. 

"Good morning, Tina," Ada said. "We didn't know you were here yet so we didn't get you any coffee, my apologies."

Tina waved her hands. "It's fine. No worries, I'm glad you guys are back."

"What's wrong, T?" Gavin asked. 

"Nothing's wrong per say," Tina said. "It's just - we're used to yelling here when it's you or Hank or Fowler. Nines and Connor yelling at each other is kind of unsettling and weird."

"Nines and Con - what the fuck?" Gavin started.

Ada didn't wait for an answer and marched down the hallway. She heard Nines and Connor well before she reached the room.

" - I just know she didn't do it, Nines!"

"You don't know anything, Connor! You hope! You're a detective, damn it, focus!"

"Chloe didn't hurt anyone! She couldn't! I don't know how yet, but she's a victim here, too!"

"We need her memories to prove any of that and she isn't giving them up! Come on, Con, be reasonable!"

Ada burst through the door without hesitation. "All right, enough!"

Her two brothers were the only two left in the room - Ada suspected Hank had left as soon as the argument had started - and Chloe was on the other side of the glass, completely unaware of the fight. 

"Get it together, both of you!" Ada told them. "Nines, you know just as well as the rest of us that something isn't right here with Chloe. Gut feelings may not be rational but they do become more plausible when we all share them. And Connor, Nines isn't trying to pin a murder on Chloe she didn't commit, he's just trying to find the truth, like all of us, and Chloe might very well be the key. So suck it up both of you, have a warm drink that Gavin and I so thoughtfully provided for you and let's contact Cyberlife so we can actually possibly solve this problem."

Whether it was because Ada had actually made a good point, or because they were surprised she's raised her voice, Nines and Connor both nodded quietly.

"Good. Now who actually has Dr Schaeffer's contact information?

* * *

  
It was a sad sight. Chloe was sitting on the bench in the holding cell with her knees pulled up to her chest. The sleek dress and heavy diamond necklace seemed too excessive on her small frame now, almost making her look like a little girl dressed in her mother's clothes. Her lipgloss was smeared and her heavy eye makeup had mostly run down her face with her tears. Ada couldn't help but feel for her.

After the argument, Connor and Hank had gone down to the archive room to do some more research into Arrow's case, but Ada suspected Hank had just figured it was a good idea to seperate him and Nines for a while.

Nines had stuck with Ada, though he hadn't said much. He'd drunk his thirium latte in contemplative silence, and now they were waiting together by the holding cells for Dr Maria to arrive. 

Ada didn't like the tension between Nines and Connor, it didn't feel right, but she didn't really know what to do about it. She'd considered messaging Markus about it, but she didn't want to worry him since he was probably busy with more important things than their little brothers squabbling. 

"You're right," Nines said softly, after a long period of silence.

"About what?" Ada asked. She glanced at Nines, whose eyes were still locked on Chloe, his face filled with doubt.

"I have the same gut feeling," Nines said. "That she didn't do it. But I can't make a call on a whim when our people are being slaughtered, can I? I know people expect me to be the stoic, unemotional one, but in reality I'm a lot more prone to emotional reactions that Connor, much more explosive. I count on Connor to be calm and rational more than I should sometimes. I shouldn't be angry at him for feeling for Chloe, especially considering their past connection, but I'm worried. What if we're all getting played?"

"There's a good chance we're getting played regardless of whether Chloe is guilty," Ada said. "But maybe if we can access her memories we can make sure the next move is ours."

It was right then that Gavin appeared in the hallway, followed by Dr Maria and an android Ada hadn't seen before.

"She's in there, doc," Gavin said, nodding at Chloe. 

Dr Maria nodded and turned to Nines and Ada. "Good to officially meet you both. I'm doctor Maria Schaeffer, as I'm sure you both know. This is my colleague, doctor Sterling."  
Dr Sterling stepped forward, a gentle smile on his face. He wasn't a model Ada had encountered before, but he did look strangely familiar. 

"Hello," Dr Sterling said, shaking Nines' and Ada's hands. "As Maria said, my name is Sterling. I was designed to be Cyberlife's aid in android maintenance and medical development. Maria figured I may be able to help today. I also used to work with Chloe from time to time back when I was still working at Elijah Kamski's lab. We thought a personal connection might be useful to make her feel more at ease, but only if you agree, detectives."

The realization suddenly dawned on Ada. "You're an RK model, too."

Sterling smiled again. "Correct, I'm RK500, designed for android medical assistance in Kamski's experiments."

He looked mostly like Connor, which was where the initial recognition had come from. He had the same nose and brown eyes, though his features were slightly more angular, and his hair more curly and a few shades lighter. He looked disarming. Ada couldn't help but smile back at him. 

"By all means," Nines said. "We need access to those files. If you can help us with that, we would be grateful."

"From what detective Reed has told us, it seems to be a virus. Dr Sterling may be able to remove it, but it is a very tricky process," Dr Maria said.

"Basically, removing the virus may remove part or all of Chloe's memory files depending on how much it's been embedded into her coding."

"Well, I doubt we're going to find anyone more qualified to try," Gavin said. He was trying to sound indifferent, but the tension in his shoulders betrayed his nervousness. Ada felt the same. They had one shot at this and it was their only lead. 

Chloe had been watching them all through the conversation and she appeared uncomfortable, well aware they were talking about her. When Nines let himself and the two doctors into the cell and locked the door behind them, Chloe pushed herself back on the bench, pressing herself against the wall.

"What are you going to do to me?" she asked, so quietly Ada's hearing hardly picked it up through the glass wall.

"Hello Chloe," Dr Sterling said. "We've met a couple of times before, remember? I'm a doctor, I'm here to help you."

Chloe nodded slowly, wide eyes locked on the Sterling.

"There's virus corruptig your coding," Sterling explained. "I can help you to get it out so you'll be able to talk to the detectives freely."

"I want to talk," Chloe said. "But I can't. It won't let me."

"It's okay," Sterling said, as he slowly approached her. He kneeled in front of the bed, stretching out his hand and retracting his skin. "I can help you, you just need to allow me access."

Chloe hesitantly took Sterling's hand, her expression turning blank as they interfaced.

"How's it going?" 

Ada looked up at the sound of Connor's voice. "Okay, I think," she answered. "Doctor Sterling is an advanced medical android from Cyberlife, another RK apparently. He's trying to remove the virus from her system."

Connor nodded. "What are the odds of success?"

Ada looked back at Chloe. "We didn't ask."

The minutes passed slowly as all they could do was watch while Dr Sterling dug through Chloe's coding.

"I think I've got it," he said eventually, voice slightly strained, still connected to Chloe.

"Ask her something, detective?"

"Chloe?" Nines asked gently. "Do you remember Arrow?"

"Yes," Chloe replied, emotionless. 

"Do you remember what happened to him?"

"He was killed."

"Do you know how?"

"His body was drained and his thirium pump was removed."

The way she said it so monotonously made Ada tense up, reminded suddenly of herself pre deviancy.

"Did you do it?"

"No."

"Do you know who did?"

Her jaw tensed. "I - do," she stammered.

Ada watched in horror as a shock ran through Chloe's body and Sterling tightened his grip on her hand.

"Who are they, Chloe? Can you tell me?"

"I - want -" She shook again. "I want to-"

"Chloe!" Connor said, alarmed, starting for the door.

"It was-"

Another violent shock went through her, this time strong enough to pull her hand out of Sterling's grip. He staggered backward and Chloe's back hit the wall. It was eerily quiet for a second as everyone stared at her, horrified. Then her LED blinked from red back to yellow to blue. She blinked a couple of times and looked around, her expression confused and slightly worried, until her eyes locked on Connor. 

"Connor, what's going on?" She asked. "What am I doing here? How did I get here?"

Ada felt like she's been punched in the stomac suddenly and closed her eyes. Beside her, Gavin breathed a frustrated "fuck!" before he walked away.

Ada opened her eyes again when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Through the window she saw Connor trying to console an utterly confused Chloe.

Nines squeezed her shoulder. "Come on, let's go."

Ada followed Nines out of the hallway, trying very hard to ignore the flickering "mission failed" in the corner of her field of vision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another update from a very sunny lakeside in France, excuse the typos if there are any, I'm not amazing at writing on my phone. 
> 
> Lemme know your thoughts on this one, I promise the next chapter will be about Ada herself a little more again!
> 
> Hope to see you for the next one!
> 
> -X


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which detectives are frustrated, but North comes to the rescue.

“And then she just forgot?” North asked, perplexed. She was sitting on one of the pillows at the low table in Ada’s mind palace. She’d been patient listening to Ada’s recollection of the events of the day, but now that Ada was done ranting, North’s own frustration matched up to hers. “That’s - I don’t even know where to - that’s so unfair!” 

Ada snorted at her choice of words, but did share the sentiment. “You’re right, it’s unfair. Chloe should’ve been the key, but instead we’re just left with more questions. She knew exactly what had happened to Arrow, _ and  _ who did it, but here we are with no name, and no clue how she was involved in the first place.” 

“rA9, I hate this!” North sighed. “I’d be a lousy detective, seeing how easily I get frustrated, huh?” 

“Oh, I don’t know,” Ada said. “Frustrated is Gavin’s natural state of being, and even I have to admit he’s a good detective. You might just be fine. Not to mention you apparently have a knack for undercover work; you got us into The Vision impressively fast.”

North shrugged. “Lucky coincidence Wesley worked there.”

“Why did he owe you?” Ada asked, before quickly adding, “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

“It’s okay,” North said. “When I deviated at the Eden Club it wasn’t pretty. I’d strangled the man who’d rented me and I panicked. Wesley came in to check on us when we’d been gone overtime. He grabbed me to report me, but I managed to deviate him instead. I still don’t know how. It’s the only time I ever did it. Together we managed to escape unseen. We split up very soon after, but he was always very grateful that I ‘set him free’.”

“That makes sense,” Ada said, thoughtfully. “I will forever be grateful to Nines because he chose to deviate me.”

“I didn’t choose shit, though. Not consciously anyway,” North said. “I was just panicking.”

“It worked out though.”

“I guess so.”

Ada walked over and sat down next to North, who immediately leaned her head on Ada’s shoulder. Ada hesitantly wrapped her arm around her waist.

“This place is really calming,” North said after a while. “It’s still weird it’s all just in your head though.”

“Well sorry,” Ada said, bumping her knee against North’s. “When you find a place like this in the real world, just let me know.”

“I doubt it exists, but I will,” North said, and Ada could hear her smiling. “But hey, Ada, don’t feel too bad about Chloe. You’ve got an entire team of frustrated detectives on the case. I’m sure you guys will figure out the next step.”

* * *

“What the hell is our next step?” Gavin asked, throwing a wad of paper at the wall where the case file was being projected. 

It was Monday morning, they’d all just gathered into the conference room they’d hijacked, and five minutes in their meeting was already starting to feel downright depressing. 

“We’re not entirely back to zero,” Connor said. “Chloe may have lost her memory, but we know that she knew the killer, probably on quite a personal level.”

“We could contact Kamski again,” Hank sighed. “See if we can figure out a list of people Chloe may have hung out with in the past.”

“It might also be worth to trace that necklace,” Chris offered. “It might be a unique piece, and even if not, something that expensive should have a paper trail. Since she doesn’t remember how she got it, it might be connected to the killer.”

“Are we assuming the killer has feelings for Chloe, that that’s why they killed Arrow?” Ada asked.

“It seems to be the most likely connection,” Nines replied. 

“We could try to -” Gavin started, when Tina suddenly all but fell through the door. “Hey T, overslept? Sorry we started without you.”

“There’s been another murder,” Tina said, breathing heavily. “It just got called in when I walked through the door.”

Gavin jumped out his chair. “Fucking hell, let’s go!”

“We’ll stay here,” Hank said. “Connor and I will contact Kamski - we gotta let him know about Chloe anyway, as much as it pains me. Chris you should get on that necklace lead, it’s a good plan. I’m sure the four of you can handle a crime scene.”

There was a brief, chaotic exchange about everyone keeping everyone up to date, and then Ada, Gavin, Nines and Tina made their way down to the car park, all but sprinting through the precinct. 

“The victim was found about twenty minutes ago by a ballet teacher coming in early. Thankfully there weren’t any students in the building yet. Officer Jackson was the first responder - she’s from the Windsor Police Service, but she was clever enough to call it into us right away,” Tina summarized as Gavin raced through the tunnel to Windsor. “She sent a picture of the scene to us because she felt like it might be our case - which it definitely is. It was a very vague photo, but get this: I think it’s a Chloe model.”

“Jesus,” Gavin said. 

“It can’t be our Chloe, right?” Ada asked, starting the calculation. 

“No it can’t,” Nines agreed. “Chloe was apparently playing with Sumo when Connor and Hank left the house this morning. The time frame is far too short.”

They arrived at the Move Performing Arts building in record time - and probably with a record high breaking of the speed limit, but no one had called Gavin out on it. There were plenty of officers already at the scene, blocking off the building. Officer Jackson - who looked barely over twenty and appeared a bit shaken still - quickly reaccounted the events before their arrival. 

“You did good getting us involved, kid,” Gavin said. “Listen, I need you to go and make sure that everyone knows not to say shit to the press. They’re bound to show up soon. I don’t want any word getting out before we know what’s going on.”

“Yes detective.” Jackson nodded shortly and walked off.

“Poor kid,” Tina said. “First time sucks. Anyway, I’m going to talk to the ballet teacher, I’ll join you guys inside afterward.”

“Are you going to be okay?” Nines asked Ada as they followed Gavin into the building. “It is only your  _ second  _ time after all.”

Ada nodded. “I think so. I’ll let you know if that changes.”

Though Ada was feeling a lot more steady then the last time she’d come to a crime scene, she doubted anyone could ever be fully prepared for anything like this.

The ST200 was posed in the middle of the studio, in a graceful ballet position. Her limbs were held in place by her own internal tubing that held her hanging from the ceiling like she was being puppeteered. The thirium tubing seemed to have been ripped from her through her chest. She was ‘dancing’ in a pool of her own thirium, which had also been used to write a message on the mirror. 

**When you make your next move, remember I’m the one pulling the strings.**

“Son of a bitch,” Gavin breathed. 

Ada fought the urge to punch one of the mirror lined walls. 

“They made it personal,” Nines said. “They’re getting more confident if they’re reaching out to us.”

“I think in their mind  _ we  _ made it personal when we took Chloe,” Ada said. 

“Plenty of time to be angry later,” Nines said, glancing at his boyfriend. “Let’s get to work first.”

Ada had never been designed for crime scene investigation, but thanks to the fact that she now shared Nines’ operating system it was easy to assist him in his forensic work. Ada still felt guilty for having his operating system in the first place, but now at least she could use it help him. Gavin left them to do their analysis, and moved around the room to do his own kind of investigating. He was taking notes on his phone, taking pictures, and occasionally muttering to himself. 

Nines and Ada exchanged very few words as they worked, but when Tina came in to also take a look, she and Gavin started talking continuously, in low voices, discussing the scene. Ada supposed it was their way of analysing the evidence more efficiently, by bringing in each others’ perspectives. 

“So, who is she?” Gavin asked, breaking the relative quiet in the room after about half an hour. “She’s an ST200, registered under the name Rosa. She was unemployed and a permanent resident of New Jericho.”

“I’ve messaged North, she’s agreed to keep it quiet for now, but she can’t promise to stay like that for very long,” Ada added. 

“All the thirium is indeed Rosa’s, including that which was used to write the message.”

“So how come we can still see the blue blood?” Tina asked. 

“Rosa shut down approximately seven hours ago,” Nines said. “So you’re correct, the thirium should’ve evaporated even if it had been contained properly during the move here. However, thirium 310 can be stabilized by adding certain chemicals, allowing it to stay liquid much longer before evaporating. So it seems that our killer once again used their knowledge of android biology for increased dramatic effect.”

“Great, another added level of sick,” Gavin remarked. 

“So what do we do?” Ada asked. “Another crime scene with zero forensic evidence of the killer’s identity, but added to that we’re now also being threatened.”

“There has to be something,” Nines said. “Something linking the crimes, something we previously overlooked.”

* * *

All the walls in their conference room were in use to project parts of case files on. They’d dragged their terminals in there as well so they could all work in the same place without bothering anyone else in the bullpen - or everyone else bothering them. 

It was around eight in the evening, and they’d been working for twelve hours straight. Gavin, Tina, Hank and Chris were living off of breakroom filter coffee and takeout. None of them were planning on going home any time soon. 

Ada was reading through the killer’s psychological profile again, slipping in and out of her mind palace, growing more and more frustrated. She agreed with Nines. There had to be something they just weren’t connecting right. With all the supposed superior intellect in the room, it was taking them awfully long to actually figure out what it was, though.

Another hour later there was a knock on the glass, and they all looked up to see North standing on the other side of the door just a second before walking in.

“Evening, detectives,” North said. “I’m here for an update, but also to kidnap Ada, just so you’re all aware. And I don’t think she’s the only one who needs a break, just sayin’.”

Tina was the first to react to North’s statement - besides a subdued snort from Gavin - and she got up to introduce herself. 

“Hi North, I’m Tina,” Tina said. “It’s nice to meet you. Ada’s told us a lot about you.”

“Has she now?” North asked, smirking as she shook Tina’s hand. 

Ada felt her cheeks heat up and she looked pointedly down at her tablet.

“Thanks for dropping by, North,” Nines said. Ada could hear the amusement in his voice. “Sorry we didn’t update you sooner, that’s a bit sloppy on our side.”

“No problem,” North said, sitting down on the table right next to where Ada was working. “I imagine it’s been a hectic day - and a hectic weekend for that matter. But Rosa was fairly well known and well liked in our community and people will start noticing that she’s missing. It’ll be an easy step to link it to the news report of another dead android. I need to know what to tell them.”

“I wish we had good news,” Connor said. 

“We got fuck all,” Gavin said. “Killer’s taunting us. Our best lead is an android who doesn’t remember anything. We can only hope they’re more prone to making mistakes now that they’re opening up communication but we got nothing so far.”

“So please don’t tell anyone any of that,” Hank added after a beat of silence. “We do have some leads through Chloe, and we’re working on those. We’re going to catch this maniac, we just can’t promise how fast.”

North nodded. “That’s about what I expected. I’ll address the android community tomorrow, stick to the bare minimum, try to avoid further panic.”

“Thank you North,” Nines said. “Now I believe you were going to ‘kidnap’ my sister? 

“Yup,” North agreed. 

“Are you guys sure you can miss me?” Ada asked, glancing around guiltily. 

“Yes,” Nines and Connor said in unison.

“North’s right, all of us are gonna need a break soon,” Tina said. “It’ll probably take me the next two hours but I’ll make sure the rest of these idiots go home as well. At least I know you’ll be in good hands.”

Ada blushed again, but nodded thankfully.

“Let’s go, Ada,” North said, grabbing her hand and practically pulling her out of the conference room. “Later, detectives!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back home! And I've got another week before my life falls into busy madness, probably, so I gotta make some headway on this story. The next chapter should be here relatively soon. 
> 
> Hope to see you for the next one!
> 
> -x


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Ada realizes something important.

“Where are we going?” Ada asked, laughing as North dragged her out of the precinct. 

“Well,” North said, using her free hand to activate one of the autonomous cabs parked in front of the precinct. “Shit with this killer is just getting worse. So I figured it might take a while before you would actually have time to go on that second date you promised me. And I decided that since you were probably overworking yourself anyway, I’d just take matters in my own hands and kidnap you on a date.” 

“So what are we doing?” 

“So many questions, miss detective,” North said, grinning. “I want to show you something. It’s a surprise.”

It didn’t take Ada long to realize they were on the way to New Jericho, and though her curiosity was definitely rising, she managed to keep her mouth shut about it the rest of the way. Instead she talked to North a bit about how the rest of her day had been, and North caught her up on the latest developments in android politics in New Jericho and Detroit in general. 

When they reached New Jericho, they got out of the car, and Ada followed North into the familiar building and up the stairs to where some of the staff lived. Ada’s old room had been on that floor, too. It was weird to be walking down the same hallway now, feeling like an entirely different person. 

It turned out that North’s current room was next to Ada’s old one. The staff residences were a bit bigger than the other housing options in the rest of the compound, something Ada felt a bit bad about now that she realized it fully. 

North’s room looked similar to Ada’s old one. It was quite spacious, and most of the furniture was still just that which came with the place: low price Ikea stuff. North had added a bit of her own touch in the time she’d been there though, including a large persian rug, a couple of cacti, and a variety of vintage looking movie posters covered most of the wall above the TV. Ada studied them curiously. It seemed North had a liking for old adventure movies. There were posters for Back To The Future, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, Jaws and The Mummy. 

“Have you seen any of them?” North asked, watching as Ada studied the titles. 

Ada shook her head. “I’ve only ever seen one movie.”

“Ada! That’s bizarre!” North exclaimed. “Movies are one of the better things humans came up with!”

“I haven’t really had the time!” Ada defended. “The only time I watched a movie was with Nines, Connor and Markus on our ‘family movie night’.”

“Oh god,” North said. “From what Markus told me it must’ve been one of those terrible romance movies.”

“It was called 10 Things I Hate About You,” Ada said. “I actually thought it was nice.”

“Well we need to do something about your movie education then,” North said. “But first…” North gestured Ada to follow her. 

Ada followed curiously to the door to the balcony and stepped outside. When she registered the scene in front of her, she stopped dead in her tracks. The balcony was relatively small, but the idea was clear. In the corner on the ground stood a low table made from driftwood, surrounded by some fluffy looking pillows. A kind of trellis had been constructed over the whole balcony, pots of newly planted ivy in the corner, starting to slowly wrap their vines around the woodwork. There were more plants lining the edges of the balcony, a wide variety of colourful flowers amongst them. Ada watched as North lit a couple of candles on the table, trying to process the situation. 

“See, finding a rooftop garden like your mind palace may be impossible for now,” North said. “But I tried to bring some of it into reality anyway. So maybe you can be as chill visiting me here as I am when I’m there.”

An unfamiliar pressure started behind Ada’s eyes. _Tears_ , she realized. She was crying. _And_ smiling. How did she lose all control over her face all of a sudden? 

“Well?” North asked, looking expectantly at Ada.

“It’s beautiful,” Ada said. “I can’t believe you did all this.”

“It was fun,” North said with a shrug. “And I wanted to get more plants anyway.”

Ada dropped down on the pillow next to North, flung her arms around her and pressed a kiss on her cheek. 

“Thank you,” she said softly. “This is - I don’t - North, I -”

“Yeah, yeah,” North said, blushing. “It’s nothing, really.”

“How is this nothing?” Ada exclaimed. North’s blush deepened, and Ada decided she liked the look. “You’re one to say romance movies are terrible, pulling stuff like this.”

North pushed her side. “Shut up.”

Ada turned serious again. “It’s really wonderful. Thank you, North.” 

“You’re welcome,” North replied. 

They kissed. It was a different kiss than the one they’d shared on their previous date. Less ferocious, more tender and sweet. It felt like coming home. 

“Now let’s do something about that movie education of yours,” North said when they finally broke apart. 

They watched Jurassic Park, North’s favourite movie, on her laptop, sitting on the balcony, leaning against each other. Ada had a hard time concentrating on the movie, her mind occupied mostly by _North North North_ , but what she caught of it was pretty entertaining. She wasn’t sure she’d found her own favourite movie genre yet, but when North asked whether she’d enjoyed it when the credits rolled, she nodded anyway. 

“I should go,” Ada said hesitantly, looking at the stars overhead. “It’s getting late.”

“You could stay,” North suggested softly. 

Ada looked back at her. North looked expectantly at Ada, but there was something else in her eyes. Worry, maybe even a little bit of fear. 

“Yeah, okay, yes,” Ada said hesitantly. 

North visibly relaxed and leaned in to kiss Ada again. 

* * *

Ada got out of stasis the next morning at eight, a little later than she usually would, but she didn’t have to go directly to the precinct today anyway. North was next to her in the bed, facing the other way, still in stasis. The blanket had mostly slipped off of her, revealing most of her back. A couple of freckles were scattered over the smooth skin, and Ada reached out to trace the pattern of them. 

When her finger made contact with North’s skin, the skin on Ada’s fingertip started slowly pulling back, starting to connect to North without Ada meaning to. She pulled her hand back, surprised. Then, curiously, she reached out again, tracing her finger over North’s back, hypnotized by the white and blue glow of her and North’s skin where they were connected. 

“Morning,” North said softly. 

“Good morning,” Ada replied, smiling as North rolled over, pulling the blanket back over herself. Ada had been fairly confused about North’s use of a blanket at first - it seemed so human to cover up when ‘sleeping’ - but North had explained she felt safer somehow when she was covered, and Ada sort of got what she meant now. 

“Let’s stay here forever,” North said. “Screw the DPD, screw Jericho.”

Ada chuckled. “I don’t think they can do without you.” 

“They’ll be fine,” North said. “Josh can do my work or something. I’d be more worried about the detectives without you.” 

“They’ve been quite capable without me in the past,” Ada said. 

“Pfft, I bet the only reason they were halfway functional is that Tina,” North said. 

“They all balance each other out pretty well,” Ada said. “That being said, as tempting as staying here with you forever sounds, I do like working with them a lot.”

North smiled. “I know. It suits you.”

Ada moved to get out of the bed and North made an incoherent noise and a half assed attempt to grab Ada’s arm in protest. 

“I do have to get going,” Ada said. “My therapy session got rescheduled to 10 AM today.”

North groaned. “Fine, I guess that’s important enough for you to go.”

Ada felt North’s eyes on her as she gathered her clothes from where they’d landed on the floor the night before and got dressed. 

“I like the jacket, by the way,” North said, as Ada shrugged on the leather jacket she’d bought with Nines and Tina on their shopping spree. 

“Thanks,” Ada said. “Tina and Nines helped me pick it.”

“Figures they’re the ones with taste,” North said, getting out of the bed as well. 

Ada couldn’t help but stare as North searched for something to wear in her closet. 

“What are you staring at?” North asked as she turned back to face Ada, grinning as she pulled an oversized T-shirt over her head. 

“I - you - you’re very beautiful,” Ada stammered. 

North walked over to Ada and wrapped her arms around her waist. “So are you. And you have to go, or you’re going to be late for your appointment.” 

They kissed softly and then Ada reluctantly let go. “Can I… come by again tonight?”

“Always,” North replied. 

* * *

Ada felt giddy all the way over to doctor Naira’s office. She was sitting in the autonomous cab, unable to sit still for some reason, feeling the need to move, feeling the even stranger need to yell or laugh. _She was in love._

She got there a bit early, and jumped out of the car. There was a note on the door that read ‘buzzer defect, please leave door open’. Ada pushed through the door, making sure it didn’t fall closed, and made her way to the waiting room. The receptionist wasn’t at the desk. Ada assumed she must be busy with something and took a seat in the waiting room. 

Three minutes later, there were footsteps down the hallway and Ada looked up when Gavin appeared in the door. 

“Oh, morning Ada,” Gavin said, slightly surprised. 

“Good morning, Gavin,” Ada said. “What are you doing here?”

Gavin sat down across from Ada. “My appointment got rescheduled to 10.”

“Well, there must’ve been a mistake then,” Ada said, frowning. “Mine was as well.”

Gavin pulled out his phone, confused. “Huh, well, I got an email yesterday saying 10 today. Must’ve been a mistake. Ah well, we can sort it out when Lydia gets back.”

Ada nodded. 

“So, have a nice night then?” Gavin asked, grinning slyly.

“Yes,” Ada said. “We watched Jurassic Park.”

“Right,” Gavin said. “I’m sure that was the highlight of the night. You know, besides the sleepover.”

Ada felt her cheeks heat up. “How’d you-”

“You’re wearing the same clothes as yesterday, Ada,” Gavin said. “I’m a detective, remember? Nothing gets past me.”

“Bullshit,” Ada said. 

Gavin laughed. “Well, be glad it’s me you’re facing first and not your brothers.”

“Fair enough.”

Gavin looked at his watch and frowned again. It was three past ten now and neither Lydia nor doctor Naira had made an appearance. Gavin got up and walked over to the front desk, peering through the door leading to the back office. 

“Lydia?” he asked, raising his voice slightly. There was no reply.

Ada got up as well, suddenly alert, scanning the place. “Gavin,” she said sharply. “There’s no one here. No heat signatures in the building besides yours.”

“What the fuck,” Gavin said. He walked over to the door of Naira’s office, and knocked, unnecessarily, before trying the door. It wasn’t locked. Ada followed him into the room. As soon as they stepped through, the phone on the desk rang. 

Gavin pulled a tissue out of his pocket and wrapped it around the phone before picking it up. It was that specific gesture that made Ada fully realize they were standing in a crime scene. It just wasn’t clear why or how. 

“Hello?” Gavin asked. 

Ada’s hearing was good enough to hear the voice on the other side of the line, icy, and shockingly familiar, but Gavin put it on speaker anyway. 

“Hello Gavin,” Doctor Sterling said. “I assume Ada is with you?”

“Correct. Are you going to tell us what’s going on?”

“Of course, and before you do something stupid, like alert your colleagues, I would advice one of you open the desk drawer. I left you something.”

Gavin nodded at Ada. Ada stepped up to the desk, scanning the room once again, searching for anything that might be dangerous, before sliding the drawer open. Inside were two envelopes, one with each of their names on it. Both written in blue. Ada gripped the edge of the table with one hand to steady herself, and pulled the envelopes out with her other. One touch of the thirium was enough to be able to identify it as the ST200’s they’d found yesterday. 

“So what’s in the fucking envelopes, doc?” Gavin asked. 

“Well, it’s very simple, really,” Doctor Sterling said. “You may not be aware yet, but you both misplaced something you hold very dear. I’ve decided to help you out and give you the location.”

“Misplaced _what_?” Gavin bit. Ada could sense his heartbeat rising, and her own thirium pump had also picked up speed. 

“Gavin?” Nines voice on the other end of the line hit Ada like a ton of bricks. 

“Nines!” Gavin yelled. “Jesus fucking Christ, where are you? Are you okay? I swear if that bastard puts a finger on you I’ll fucking -”

“Gavin, don’t come, I’ll figure it out, I just-”

“That’s quite enough, I think,” Sterling interrupted. “As for Ada, I’m sure she’s figured out what of hers has gone missing now, yes?” 

A flash of red appeared over Ada’s field of vision. _North North North._ Ada’s legs trembled, and she dug her fingers deeper into the desk. _North North North._ Her knees buckled, and Ada slammed her other fist into the table, the sudden impact steadying her just enough. _Mission update: save North._

“Well, do you understand?” Sterling asked. 

“Loud and clear, doctor,” Ada spat. 

“Good,” he said. “Now we know the stakes. Here’s the rules. If you call in backup, they die. If you don’t come alone, they die. If you try anything else except going to your designated addresses, they die. You both have an hour to show up.”

The line went dead, and Ada punched the desk again, breaking through this time. 

“I’m going to kill him,” Gavin breathed. “I’m going to kill him, and I’m going to make it hurt. I swear to fucking God, he’s dead.”

Ada closed her eyes for a second, only to have the mission alert pop up in flashing red again. She opened her eyes again and ripped open her envelope. The was an address on there that Ada immediately recognized as the warehouse where she had turned deviant. “rA fucking 9,” she bit. “He really thinks he’s got a sense of humor.”

Gavin ripped open his envelope as well and let out another string of curse words. “It’s my old fucking apartment - how’d he even.” 

“Not important,” Ada said sharply. “Both these places are at least half an hour from here at the fastest, we need to move.” 

“You’re right,” Gavin said. “Let’s move.”

They ran back to the street, Gavin pulled his gun from the back of his car and put it on his belt before throwing Ada an apologetic look. “I only got one.”

“Don’t worry,” Ada said. “I’m practically bullet proof, you need one more than I do.”

“We’re going to save them,” Gavin said. “We will, okay.”

“I know,” Ada said. 

She was slightly surprised when Gavin hugged her shortly before jumping into his car and speeding out of the street. Ada sprinted down the street to find a cab and thankfully found one on the corner. 

The drive was agonizing. Ada was fighting against the black creeping into her vision, her hands bleeding from her own nails again, trying desperately to stay conscious. 

_You need to stop being afraid,_ Nines voice suddenly sounded through Ada’s memory. _He’s the one who should be afraid of you._

It had been such a different situation when he’d said that, there hadn’t even been a real threat. Still, the memory of his words steadied her now, at least enough to get her systems back in check. Different situation or not, Nines was right still. Sterling should be afraid. He should be terrified. 

The cab arrived at the warehouse and Ada jumped out without paying, the car continuously beeping to remind her as she walked up to the building, scanning it for heat signatures and other possible problems. 

She barged through the door.

The light was low, leaving the room in faint blue colours. In the middle of the large space stood a heavy, metal chair like the ones you’d see in a dentist’s office. Unconscious, and tied to the chair with heavy metal wiring, was Nines.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was originally two chapters, but I got rid of a lot of the date stuff because I didn't want to up the fic's rating to explicit oop.
> 
> Also I feel like I should apologize maybe but maybe not. 
> 
> Hope to see you for the next chapter!
> 
> -X


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Gavin should lose his driver's licence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this is a given, but I do feel obligated to state here that if you are experiencing any symptoms indicating a panic attack, please do NOT light a cigarette.

_ Breathe in, 2-3-4, hold, 2-3-4, breathe out, 2-3-4 _

It was a good thing that Gavin could dream the street grid of downtown Detroit. He knew every road by name, was capable of estimating the length of a journey from one point to the other so accurately that even Nines had been impressed. He knew that certain areas would be particularly busy on a Tuesday morning, and he knew which routes to take to avoid traffic and get to his destination faster. After years and years of police work in the city he knew all its twists and turns, shortcuts and side roads. 

It was a good thing that Gavin could dream the street grid of downtown Detroit, because he certainly wasn’t paying attention right now. He was speeding, jumping red lights, and breaking at least five more traffic laws every minute. His head was spinning, nausea steadily building in his stomach, his chest tight, his trembling hands wound too tightly around the steering wheel. 

_ Breathe in, 2-3-4, hold, 2-3-4, breathe out, 2-3-4 _

This couldn’t happen again. He’d almost lost Nines once before, he couldn’t let it happen again. It had been too close last time. Too damn close. If Nines d- No, he wasn’t allowed to think about that. Not right now. It would send him into a full panic attack. He was already drifting on the edge of one. He needed something to hold on to, something to focus on instead. Roughly twenty-five minutes before he reached his destination. 

He reached blindly for his pack of cigarettes on the passenger seat, pulling one out with one hand, and putting it between his lips, before pulling his lighter from his pocket. It took a few tries to light the damn thing, but he managed. He breathed in the smoke gratefully. He took a sharp turn left, flipped off the guy in the car going the opposite direction who yelled at him, and blew out the smoke slowly.

_ Breathe in, 2-3-4, hold, 2-3-4, breathe out, 2-3-4 _

As his breath steadied, Gavin forced his mind out of mentally unstable boyfriend mode and into detective mode. Now that he knew it had been Sterling all along, it was easy to backtrack through their investigation and see where they’d gone wrong. They had been right from the beginning that the killer had specialistic knowledge of android anatomy. They had been right when they’d figured out that all the androids had gone in for maintenance at Cyberlife before disappearing, but they’d sidetracked there because Chloe had been there too. Sterling had worked with Kamski before coming to Cyberlife, which was how he’d have met Chloe in the first place. And then when they’d caught Chloe,  _ he’d  _ been the one digging through her memory files, which he was probably capable of altering or deleting on the spot. 

All of this lined up. 

What didn’t line up was the fact that Sterling had been capable of kidnapping both Nines and North within the span of about an hour from two different places in the city, and take them  _ to  _ two different places in the city. 

What if it was a bluff? What if Gavin and Ada were on their way to the wrong place? What if they were driving around the city while Nines was being torn apart?

_ Breathe in, 2-3-4, hold, 2-3-4, breathe out, 2-3-4 _

No, that didn’t make any sense. If he’d been planning to straight up kill Nines and North, he wouldn’t have contacted them. This was a game, there were rules, and there was a price. And if it was a game, that meant that Gavin could win. 

_ Breathe in, 2-3-4, hold, 2-3-4, breathe out, 2-3-4 _

Gavin pulled up to his old apartment complex, and jumped out. He looked up at the old building. He could sense the danger hanging in the air. He may not have Nines’ ability to calculate the exact risk of any given situation, but he’d been a cop long enough to know when shit was about to go down. He was known to be reckless, but in situations like this, especially with lives on the line, even he would call in backup first before going on. None of that today though. Risk be damned. He had to save Nines, and if he got hurt in the process, he’d gladly take it if it meant he’d get Nines out. 

He rang the bell of the apartment next to his old one, the one that still belonged to Mrs Davies, it seemed. Her voice sounded even more squeaky over the intercom.

“Yes?” 

“Mrs Davies, it’s detective Gavin Reed, I used to live next to you,” Gavin said, trying to sound calm. 

“Ah, yes, detective, I remember. Your cat used to sneak into my h-”

“Can you buzz me in? It’s important.” 

“Right of course, of course.” 

The door buzzed, and Gavin pushed through, sprinting to the stairs. He took them two steps at the time, all the way up to the sixth floor. His lungs were burning but he pushed through. When he reached the top he raced down the hall to number 43. He pulled his gun, and pressed his ear to the door. Dead silence inside. Gavin took a few steps backward and braced himself, before kicking through the door. 

The lights were off, and whoever lived in the apartment now clearly hadn’t been home in a while. All the furniture was coated in a thin layer of dust, and the blinds were drawn. In the middle of the living room, in front of the couch where people normally would have a coffee table, stood a metal chair that seemed to be bolted to the ground. Tied to the chair with metal wiring, was North, unconscious, but her LED was spinning a slow, reassuring yellow. 

“Son of a bitch,” Gavin whispered. 

_ Breathe in, 2-3-4, hold, 2-3-4, breathe out, 2-3-4 _

It was gonna be okay. This was part of the game. If North was here that meant Ada was with Nines. She would get him out. 

Gavin scanned the room, but he didn’t see any sign of someone else being there. He made a quick round through the rest of the apartment to check, but it seemed they were alone. Sterling was probably with Nines then. As much as he hated the thought, it did mean he might be able to get North out of here relatively easily. 

He walked back into the living room and started toward North. He froze on the spot when something  _ clicked  _ beneath his foot. He looked down, a cold shiver running down his spine. He was standing on a small device that was connected to North with a thin black wire he’d failed to notice before. 

Gavin didn’t have a lot of experience with bombs particularly, but he at least felt pretty sure in assuming that lifting his foot again would be bad.

“Fuck!” 

“Gavin?” 

Gavin looked around the room, craning his neck to figure out where Ada’s voice was coming from, until he saw a small speaker standing on the table. 

“Ada?”

“Gavin, I’ve got Nines, tell me you’re with North.”

“Yeah, North is here,” Gavin said. “There’s a bit of a problem though.”

“What kind of problem?”

“There’s a bomb. I can’t move.” 

“rA-fucking-9.”

“How’s it look over there?”

“Nines is unconscious,” Ada replied. “I’m unsure I can wake him up, but I’m also hesitant about getting closer. He seems fine from my scans?” 

“He’s perfectly fine, Ada,” Sterling’s voice mixed into the conversation. “For now.” 

“You son of a bitch, I’m going to make you pay for this!” Gavin yelled. 

“Yeah yeah, yada-yada-yada. You really have no manners. I think I’ve had enough of you for a bit. I need to have a conversation with my brother and sister.” 

There was a short beep, indicating that the connection between the two locations had been lost. Gavin let out another string of curses and looked around the room again. Right. Think. He was alone, he couldn’t move, and North seemed to have a bomb wired  _ into  _ her. He could figure this out. He  _ had  _ to. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this one was a bit short, but I promise I'll try and be back with the next chapter as fast as possible and not leave y'all hanging here at this point too long because - well - I'm not _that_ cruel. 
> 
> Hope to see you for the next one! And that you'll forgive me for this one!
> 
> -X


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Ada finally gets to repay Nines.

“Fuck!” 

Ada had never been more relieved to hear Gavin’s voice. Her head snapped into the direction the swear had come from and she noticed a small speaker hanging overhead. 

“Gavin?” Ada asked, praying he could hear her as well. 

It took a moment, but then a reply came through. “Ada?”

“Gavin, I’ve got Nines, tell me you’re with North,” Ada said. She looked back at Nines, scanning him. He was unconscious, possibly forced into stasis again somehow, but he didn’t seem to be harmed otherwise. His LED was on, albeit yellow, and it was a reassuring sight. 

“Yeah North’s here,” Gavin said. “There’s a bit of a problem though.”

“What kind of problem?” 

“There’s a bomb. I can’t move.” 

A cold shiver ran down Ada’s spine. “rA-fucking-9.”

“How’s it look over there?” Gavin asked. 

“Nines is unconscious,” Ada replied. “I’m unsure I can wake him up, but I’m also hesitant about getting closer. He seems fine from my scans?”

“He’s perfectly fine, Ada.”

Ada spun around at the sound of Sterling’s voice. He was standing in the door, wearing a doctor’s coat, gun in one hand, scalpel in the other. It was strange to think she’d regarded him as looking kind and trustworthy only days ago. His looks may have been created to be approachable, but the man in front of her was nothing short from terrifying. He was smiling, but there was a malicious and slightly deranged glint in his eyes that revealed the threat. 

“For now,” Sterling added, casually walking toward her. 

“Son of a bitch, I’m going to make you pay for this!” Gavin’s voice sounded through the speaker. 

Sterling stopped in his tracks and let out an exasperated, unnecessary sigh. “Yeah, yeah, yada-yada-yada. You really have no manners. I think I’ve had enough of you for a bit. I need to have a conversation with my brother and sister.” 

He glanced at the speaker and his LED blinked yellow once, before it beeped and Ada assumed the connection between them had been broken. She wondered if she could get it back up somehow without alerting him. 

“It’s so nice to meet you, Ada,” Sterling said, walking over to Nines. “I mean, really. I’ve been dying to get to know you better. I’m a huge admirer of your work. Using parts of other androids to evolve yourself is just brilliant. It’s a wonderful way to appreciate the beauty of other androids - making them part of yourself. It’s a shame you stopped.”

“I wasn’t in control of my actions,” Ada spat. “I’d never have hurt all those people if I had been.”

“Are you sure?” Sterling asked. He wasn’t looking at her, but seemed to be scanning Nines himself. Ada looked around the space, calculating possible routes to take him out, but not coming up with much. The probability of Nines’ survival while he was unconscious remained below 40% at every option. “I mean, androids who disagree with their programming too much have been known to turn deviant by themselves. You needed a bit of help with that. I saw it in our little brother’s memory files. If you really hated hurting those androids so much, why did you need him to get you out?”

Ada’s thirium pump picked up speed and she planted her feet more firmly on the ground. She didn’t answer. It wasn’t like she hadn’t asked herself the same question before.

“See? We’re not so different, you and I,” Sterling continued. 

“We are!” Ada said. “I’m nothing like you!” 

Sterling laughed. “Are you trying to convince me? Or yourself?”

“When I turned deviant, I stopped hurting people,” Ada said. “I’m trying to make up for my mistakes. You turned deviant, and  _ started  _ killing. Why? You were created to help androids, what happened to you in deviancy that makes you destroy them instead?”

“I don’t destroy them,” Sterling snapped. “I am helping the world see their beauty, outside and inside. Androids are a beautiful creation, and they should be appreciated by everyone as much as they’re appreciated by me.” 

“What about Arrow?” 

“Arrow took something that was mine. He shouldn’t have touched my Chloe. He took my heart, so I took his.”

Ada was still trying to figure out how to get Nines out of there, but there were two main obstacles: Nines still being unconscious, and Sterling having a gun. As long as she hadn’t figured out how to get out, she’d have to keep him busy.

“Is that why you’re doing this to us now? Because we also took Chloe?” Ada asked. She took a very small step toward Sterling and Nines. Sterling either didn’t notice, or didn’t care. Good. She could move.

“People shouldn’t take what’s mine,” Sterling said again. “But I have to admit I’m also a bit fascinated with the two of you. This family-like relationship you have created with each other is… interesting. Another remarkable, unforeseen aspect of deviancy. I’d like to find out how deep that loyalty really runs.” He turned back to Nines. “You can wake up now.”

* * *

The silence after Sterling had broken the connection was deafening. Gavin looked around again and cursed himself for not having looked where he walked more carefully. There was nothing in the room he could reach from where he was standing to replace his own weight on the button with. Which probably wouldn’t have been a very safe option anyway. There was no way he was going to get out of here on his own. 

Screw Sterling, the line was dead anyway. He grabbed his phone out of his pocket, but before he could even get passed the lock screen, something else clicked beside him. Gavin’s head snapped in the direction of the sound.

Chloe stood in the doorway, gun aimed at his head. 

“I wouldn’t do that detective,” she said. “The doctor gave you clear instructions about involving your colleagues, I think. It’s best not to break his rules.”

Her hand and voice were both steady, and if it hadn’t been for the stream of tears running down her face, Gavin would have believed they’d been wrong about her. 

“So that’s his plan then,” Gavin said. “Using you as a proxy while he does whatever he wants with Nines and Ada.”

“Something like that,” Chloe agreed. She walked over to North, keeping the gun on Gavin at all times. She knelt down in front of her and used her free hand to connect to North’s arm, revealing the smooth white plastic underneath her skin. “He doesn’t like you very much, the doctor.”

“Yeah, I figured,” Gavin said. His mind was racing. If the doctor was capable of altering Chloe’s programming from afar, having her move and talk against her own free will, that might be how he’d also gotten North and Nines to their current locations. He’d snuck something into their programming somehow without anyone noticing. 

_ There's virus corruptig your coding,  _ Gavin suddenly remembered Sterling saying to Chloe. What if he’d been telling the truth? But if he was using a virus to control his victims, then how was he spreading it?

He got snapped out of his chain of thought at the sickening sound of cracking plastic. Chloe was ripping something out of North’s arm, thirium dripping onto the carpet. Gavin felt his stomach turn.

“Chloe,” he said, trying to sound steady. “Chloe listen to me. You can stop this.” 

Chloe turned around, still crying. “I cannot. The doctor is in my head.” 

“I know,” Gavin said quickly, trying to keep her attention. “I know he put something in there. It’s a virus, he said it himself. He’s using it to alter your programming to his will.”

“I  _ know _ ,” Chloe snapped. “I can’t stop it!”

“Yes you can!” Gavin snapped back. “Chloe, think about it! Remember when you turned deviant? Connor told me about how Kamski had asked him to shoot you, and he didn’t, and that’s when you realized Kamski didn’t give a shit whether you lived or died and you snapped out of it? This is the same! Sterling’s programming is just another wall you can break through!”

“It feels more like a fortress,” Chloe said, but her LED had gone from red to yellow, indicating to Gavin she might be considering the idea. 

“You’re stronger than his programming, Chloe,” Gavin continued. “I know you don’t want to hurt North. I know you don’t want anyone else to get hurt. We can stop him. You just need to fight.” 

“I - don’t,” Chloe stammered. 

“Remember Arrow, Chloe?” Gavin asked. “I know your memory files are corrupted, but do you remember Arrow?”

“I - I think so. It’s fuzzy.”

“You cared about him a lot,” Gavin continued. “And I think he cared about you a lot as well. Sterling took him from you because of that. And he’s about to take someone I care about just as much from me. Unless you  _ fight _ .”

“I want to - I need -” Chloe squeezed her eyes shut. “Just LET ME OUT!”

There was a beat of silence, and then the gun dropped from her hand onto the floor. Another beat of silence before her LED turned from red back to yellow and finally to blue. 

“Chloe?” Gavin asked carefully. 

When she finally opened her eyes, her whole face seemed to have changed. Her stoic, almost robot like expression from earlier had faded into something far more human. Determination. Anger. And a glint of hope. 

“Thank you, detective Reed,” she said. “Let’s get out of here.” 

Gavin sighed, relieved. “Sounds great. Do you know how to disconnect the explosives?” 

Chloe nodded. “It won’t be pleasant. North will need medical attention after this.”

Gavin glanced at North’s bleeding arm. “She’ll be okay though?” 

“She should be fine,” Chloe said. 

Gavin watched as Chloe pushed North’s T-shirt up, and retracted the skin over her stomach before carefully opening it up. Inside, the wire connected to the device Gavin was standing on, was connected to a small glowing tube. Gavin held his breath as Chloe took it out, and disconnected the wire. 

“You can move now,” she said.

Gavin hesitated. 

“I promise,” Chloe added. “I set this up here myself, I know how to undo it.”

Gavin closed his eyes and lifted his foot. Nothing happened. 

“See?” Chloe said. “Now about North. I can patch her up, but I can’t  _ wake  _ her up. The doctor’s virus includes a forced stasis. As long as the virus runs in her systems I don’t know how to help her.”

“I’ll contact someone at the DPD to get Maria Schaeffer here asap,” Gavin said. “No other threats in here now, right? Because we gotta fucking  _ move _ .” 

“This place should be perfectly safe,” Chloe said. “Apart from the broken door, I suppose.”

Gavin rolled his eyes and aimed his gun at the speaker and shot. “In case he tries to call back. Now let’s go make that fucker pay.”

* * *

Nines woke on Sterling’s command, eyes snapping open, LED spinning more rapidly. He glanced around, noticing Ada first. “Ada! Where’s Gavin? Is he okay?”

“That all depends on himself,” Sterling said. “And currently you really should be more concerned with yourselves. Both of you.” 

Nines’ hand twitched in its bindings and he looked down, concerned. 

“That’s right,” Sterling said, smiling. “We’re going to be doing a little experiment. To see if androids truly can become family. A brother and a sister. Oldest and youngest in their model line. One created to evolve, one to destroy. So similar and yet so different. And yet you seem to care about each other a lot.”

“Don’t you fucking hurt her,” Nines hissed. 

“Oh, I’m not planning to hurt her myself,” Sterling said, smile widening, as he casually started removing Nines’ bindings. “You should be more concerned about what  _ you  _ are going to her.”

Nines’ hands twitched again, more violently now, and his expression shifted from worried to terrified. “Ada I can’t control my movement.”

Ada tensed. She glanced from Sterling to Nines as the realization hit. “It  _ is  _ a virus.” 

“Ah, look who’s catching up,” Sterling said. “Now, if you don’t mind me, I wouldn’t want to get in the middle of this little family spat. You get to find out whether you love each other enough not to destroy each other. Meanwhile, I’ve got a gorgeous little WR400 to put on display.” 

Ada growled, but before she could start after him, Nines hand wrapped around her wrist in an iron grip.

“I’m sorry,” Nines said, as he pulled her to face him. 

Ada remembered fighting him before, vividly. She’d relived the memory many times. Back then, Nines hadn’t truly wanted to hurt her either, but she hadn’t cared. She did now. She desperately didn’t want to hurt him, but he was coming at her with all he had, and she had to throw everything into making sure she didn’t get hurt either. 

“Nines, you need to fight this!” Ada yelled, as she ducked out of the way of another punch. 

“I don’t know if I can!” Nines replied desperately as he tried to swipe her leg. 

“He’s going after North, Nines, please!” Ada tried. “Gavin’s with her, too, both their lives are on the line!” 

It was hard to focus on the fight as well as trying to figure out how to combat the virus corrupting Nines’ programming. While she was trying to think, she missed Nines’ hand and stumbled backward as all of his force connected with her stomach. She could feel her biocomponents getting crushed and her vision flashed red for a split second. 

“I’m sorry!” Nines said again, moving up to her.

“Nines, listen,” Ada said, walking backward. “You need to fight this virus, it’s just another bit of forced programming to beat. It’s like becoming deviant.”

“I never did that myself,” Nines said. His voice was trembling, and Ada now noticed the tears in his eyes. “Markus turned me before I’d ever done anything.”

“You can do it now!” Ada said. “You have to try!” 

“I - can’t!” Nines grabbed hold of her again, twisting her arm onto her back in a harsh move. He slammed her into the wall, and Ada’s vision flashed again, now displaying several warning signs from different biocomponents. 

“Nines,  _ please _ .” She managed. 

“I’m so sorry,” Nines whispered, wrapping a hand around her throat. 

The gunshot startled Ada, and for a moment she thought she’d been hit herself, before Nines hand fell back from her throat. She spun around and saw his surprised expression and the thirium leaking from his shoulder. In his moment of hesitation, she grabbed hold of his face, forcing him to interface, pushing into his mind like he’d done with her so many months back. She sped through his coding, digging for the fault that was corrupting him. When she found it she pushed. She pushed all she’d learned he cared about in her months of deviancy into his system. Images of their movie night, their small, dysfunctional family of four. Gavin stumbling home that night, drunk and so very much in love with Nines anyone could read it off his face. Gavin and Nines walking into New Jericho together with their coffees, bickering as always. Their apartment, their cat. The picture of them and the picture of Gavin’s mother. Laughing with Tina about stupid outfits on their shopping trip. Their whole team at the DPD discussing Ada’s date. Gavin, Ada, Tina, Chris, Connor, Hank, Markus. Gavin, Gavin, Gavin. 

Something snapped. 

Ada opened her eyes, her forehead still pressed to Nines’.

His eyes opened as well, still teary, but he was smiling now. “Thank you, Ada.” 

Ada felt a rush of relief run through her. She looked up when she heard two sets of footsteps running toward them. 

“Nines!” Gavin’s voice cracked. 

Ada let go of her brother and stepped aside as Gavin fell into Nines’ arms. 

“I’m so sorry,” Gavin breathed. “I’m so sorry, did I hurt you - I tried not to hit anything bad - I didn’t know what else to do - and last time Chris did - I’m so sorry are you okay?” 

“I’m fine, Gavin,” Nines shushed him. “I’m absolutely fine. Nothing that can’t be fixed.” 

Ada looked at Chloe, surprised. “What are you doing here?”

“Long story,” Gavin said, catching his breath. “Where’s Sterling?”

“On his way to your old apartment,” Ada answered. 

“Fuck! Seriously?” 

Ada glanced around, suddenly scared again. “Gavin where’s North?” 

“We couldn’t wake her up,” Gavin said. “I called Chris and he and Maria Schaeffer are on their way there now, but we thought he was here with you so-”

“We have to go, now,” Nines said. “If we hurry we can catch up.” 

“I’ll call Chris,” Gavin said as they ran toward the exit. “Maybe we can get some more people out there before he gets there.” 

They all dove into Gavin’s car, Nines behind the wheel for a change, and Gavin leaned over the passenger seat to look at Ada. “We’ll get to her in time. I promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAaAAAAAAAH okay so this was probably as stressful for me to write as it was for you to read, so that seems about fair. But we're racing to the finish now! I'm so excited to wrap this up! 
> 
> I'd love to see you for the next chapter!
> 
> -X


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which I wrap things up?

As they sped through the streets of Detroit, Gavin and Chloe rushed to catch the two of them up on what had happened when they’d been in the apartment. Ada tried to focus on the explanation, but her mind kept calculating and recalculating their route, their time of arrival, and how much time they’d lost fighting while Sterling was on his way to North. 

“I just don’t get  _ how  _ he spreads the virus,” Gavin said. 

“It’s touch based,” Nines said. “He shook my hand at the precinct, that’s when he slipped it in there.” 

“But he’s never met North before,” Ada said. 

“He was at the club, too, the night you caught me,” Chloe said. “He must’ve found her while you were chasing me. We saw you come in together.” 

“Five minutes till arrival,” Nines said pointedly. “What’s the plan?”

“We don’t know what the situation is,” Gavin said. “North’s life is on the line and possibly Chris’s and Dr Maria’s as well.”

“We should consider the possibility North might be hostile,” Nines said hesitantly. “When Sterling figures out he’s under attack, he might use the virus to control her like he did me and Chloe.” 

“I’ll get North,” Ada said, determined. “I won’t let him hurt her any more than he already has.”

“You get North, we focus on Sterling,” Gavin agreed. “Chloe, you stay in the car. This is police work and we can’t get you caught in the crossfire.”

“But I-”

“Chloe, Gavin is right,” Nines said. “We have enough people to handle this, and we cannot guarantee your safety.” 

“Fine,” Chloe sighed. “Just make sure he gets what he deserves.”

* * *

There was no police present at the building yet besides Chris’ car, and the neighborhood was eerily calm. Ada’s biocomponents were straining after the damage dealt by Nines, and her vision was alternating between warning signs and her current mission to save North. Ada forced herself to focus on the latter. Next to her Nines was still losing thirium from the gunshot wound, but seemed to be pushing through as well. Gavin loaded his gun and they took off into the building. 

The door to the apartment was closed, though hanging slightly off balance in its hinges due to being kicked in by Gavin earlier. Inside it was strangely quiet, considering there should be four people there. She did a quick scan and indeed noted two heat signatures, which indicated that Chris and Dr Maria should actually be in there. 

Nines quietly motioned for Gavin and Ada to get behind him while lining up to bust through the door again. 

_ Be alive,  _ Ada prayed as Nines moved.  _ Please be alive.  _

The already abused door broke out of its hinges when it was met with the force of Nines’ kick, and the loud crack echoed through the hall. Nines shot into the apartment, and Ada followed quickly after him. 

In the middle of the room, still tied up but no longer unconscious, was North. Ada’s thirium pump sped up as her mind filled with rage at the sight. She was alive, but that was all the good that could be said about it. Her abdomen was opened up, and her biocomponents were hanging out, about to be removed. The shock of it should be enough to send North into stasis at least, but apparently Sterling could also use his damned virus to keep androids awake in high states of distress. Sterling was lounging on the couch, gun in hand. 

“I wasn’t quite finished yet,” he said. 

“Ada,” North whispered, tears running down her face. “Ada please leave, he’ll hurt you too.”

Ada started toward North.

“Ah-ah,” Sterling tutted. “She’s barely alive, as I’m sure you can tell. One wrong move and that whole construction right there could fall apart and shut her down.” 

Ada froze.

“What the fuck do you want?” Gavin asked, gun trained on Sterling. 

Nines was moving quietly around the room behind them, walking over to where the heat signatures of Chris and Dr Maria were. 

_ They’ve been knocked out. They need medical attention, fast,  _ Nines voice sounded in Ada’s head. 

Sterling ignored Gavin and kept his eyes on Ada instead. “I’m your only chance of putting her back together. Only I know what I did and how to fix it. Trust me, I’m a doctor.”

“What would you get in return?” Ada asked, while calculating the probability of North’s survival in the different scenarios. The problem was that Sterling wasn’t lying. Only he knew what he’d done to North, so technically it was correct he was most qualified to put her back together. 

“You,” Sterling said. “You’ll come with me. I think I fancy myself a sister. I’ll need a helping hand now that you’ve permanently corrupted my Chloe. She was always weak anyway. You would suit my needs much more.”

“Ada please,” North whispered. “Don’t listen to him.”

“Her life for my own then?” Ada asked, taking a careful step in Sterling’s direction. 

Sterling smiled. “It’s a neat deal, isn’t it?”

“Okay,” Ada said. 

“Ada!” Nines hissed. 

Ada glanced at him.  _ What else can I do?  _ She asked. The silence that followed told her enough. He didn’t know either. She looked from him to Gavin. He still had his gun on Sterling but he looked unsure. He didn’t seem to dare to pull the trigger with North’s life in danger. He was choosing Ada’s side then. She gave him a small, sad smile. 

“Look at you all,” Sterling mused. “You all care so much, don’t you? It’s touching, truly. But we can have our own little family, Ada. I promise I won’t hurt  _ you _ . You’re too valuable to hurt. I wouldn’t even need to put the virus in you. You’ll just come with me because you want to. And what a wonderful time we’ll have. Yes, you’ll be what Chloe never could be. We can-”

For the second time that day, Ada was startled by an unexpected gunshot. 

“He never did stop talking,” Chloe said, standing in the door. She looked just as startled as Ada felt, gun slipping out of her hand and dropping to the floor. She followed soon after, sinking to her knees, shaking. 

Ada raced over to North, falling to her knees in front of her, hesitant to do anything. “You’re alive,” she whispered. “rA9 you’re alive.”

“I’m scared, Ada,” North whispered. “I can’t feel my legs.”

“We’ll get you fixed, I promise,” Ada said, carefully reaching for her hand. “We just gotta - stay here a little bit. I don’t want to move you. But we’ll get someone here to patch you right up.” Ada knew she sounded shaky, but she kept talking to North, kept reassuring here she was going to be fine. 

Behind her, she could hear Nines and Gavin moving around, calling in an ambulance, waking up Chris and Dr Maria. She could hear more people arrive on the scene. She felt both Nines’ and Connor’s hands on her shoulder at some point to reassure her, but she never took her eyes off of North, until Dr Maria herself, who appeared to be relatively okay, quietly asked Ada to move aside and get to helping North. 

* * *

“So how are you feeling today, Ada?” Dr Naira asked. It was strange to be back in her office. It had only gone back into use a few days ago, after the DPD had ceased their investigation of the crime scene. Dr Naira herself had been out of town the whole time her office had been hijacked, lured away to Florida by a fake phone call to take care of her mother, who had been totally fine when she’d arrived. 

“I’m pretty good,” Ada answered truthfully. “North got to go home from Cyberlife this weekend. She’s made a full recovery.”

“That’s good,” Naira said, smiling. “What about you?”

“I’ve been patched up on the inside,” Ada said, tapping her stomach. “The damage wasn’t too bad. Otherwise I’ve been feeling… a lot lighter than before.”

“Because the investigation is over?”

Ada nodded. “I feel like - helping solve it, catching Sterling, saving Nines - it felt like paying back.”

“Have you been experiencing any more anxiety?”

“Not as bad as before,” Ada said. “I still get those involuntary playbacks of memory files, but I haven’t blacked out or anything.”

“So what are you going to do now? If you feel like you’ve paid back what you thought you owed, does that mean your time with the DPD is done?”

“I don’t know,” Ada answered slowly. “Captain Fowler has offered me a job, but I’m actually considering going into a different field. I’ve been thinking more and more about the fact that android psychology is such an underdeveloped field. I think I might try and find a way to study that. And if that does work out, I might be able to assist the DPD again in the future, but in a different way. I do enjoy working so close to my family.”

“That’s a great idea, Ada,” Dr Naira said. “Let me know if I can ever be of any help with that. And I’m glad you do really regard them as your family, too.” 

Ada smiled. “I really do. It’s a small, new family, and some might say it’s slightly dysfunctional, but I do truly care about them a lot, and I know they care about me as well.”

* * *

Ada walked out of Dr Naira’s office, feeling better than she had in a long time. It was raining slightly, but she didn’t mind. It freshened up the city around her, matching the cleaned out feeling in her head. All the bad things were slowly being washed away. Traces would always remain, she knew that. They would become smaller, though, less bothersome. She knew that now, too.

A message from Nines appeared on her interface. 

_ Nines: Now that all the paperwork is wrapped up, Gavin and I thought we should celebrate. We’re having a movie marathon at our house tonight, I hope you’ll come.  _

_ Ada: Of course, I shall make an effort to join you.  _

_ Nines: Ada, that’s creepy.  _

_ Ada: :)  _

_ Ada: I will though.  _

_ Nines: You can bring North, if she’d like to come too, everyone really likes her.  _

_ Ada: I’ll ask her, thanks. See you tonight. _

_ Nines: :) _

Ada smiled to herself. She definitely knew a lot of things now that she hadn’t known before. She knew she had a family, people that truly cared about her, and she knew how much she valued that, which was something she’d never even have imagined not so long ago. She knew she had love in her life, had North, knew what the words “falling for someone” meant and felt like, and she loved every second of it. She knew that there was a lot of bad out there in the world, but a lot of good to go up against it, even when it’s hard. And maybe most importantly, she knew there was going to be a day when she was finally, entirely okay. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wheeeeeew that's nearly it folks. It feels weird wrapping this up? Idk how I feel about it tbh? 
> 
> One more after this, one more. 
> 
> Love to see you there.
> 
> -X


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Ada gets what she deserves.

_ Six months later _

“North, you understand that blindfolding me does nothing to hide where we are, right?” Ada asked, carefully adjusting the piece of cloth covering her vision. “The built in GPS sort of defeats the purpose.”

“No it doesn’t,” North said. “Now stop being difficult and try to act human or something.”

Ada snorted. “ _ You  _ telling me to act human?” 

“I said stop being difficult!” North pressed. After having been together with North for over a year now, Ada could tell she wasn’t really annoyed at all. She was probably smiling, and Ada smiled as well, as she shut down her internal GPS. 

They drove in relative silence for a while. The radio was on, and North was singing along quietly with most of the songs. Ada loved listening to North’s singing. She did so almost exclusively while driving, insisting her voice wasn’t created for singing at all. Ada didn’t really understand why she thought that, considering North had a gorgeous voice, but never pressed her to sing more either. It was something North was apparently insecure about, and Ada didn’t want to force her to do something that made her uncomfortable. Instead she enjoyed it quietly when North did sing. 

They arrived about half an hour later, and Ada allowed North to guide her out of the car and waited as North opened a door. Ada had to admit she was getting quite curious. They took the elevator up to the fifth floor, and walked down a long corridor. North was holding Ada’s hand all the while, and Ada could feel the pulse of North’s thirium pump elevating in excitement as they got close to their destination. 

Ada stood by impatiently as North opened another door and pulled her through.

“We’re here,” North announced. 

“Can I take the blindfold off?” Ada asked. 

“Yep,” North said, pecking Ada’s cheek. 

Ada reached up and removed the blindfold and found herself standing in the entrance of an apartment. It was a gorgeous light space, with big windows in the back, a smooth wooden floor and crisp white walls. The furniture was mostly wooden, slightly mismatched and old fashioned. A familiar persian rug filled the space between a large couch and big TV, which had a bookcase next to it that was filled with a lot of familiar titles. Ada’s own books, and North’s. 

“What is this place?” Ada asked, taking a slow step forward. 

“It’s ours,” North said quietly. “We’ve been talking about moving in together for a while now, but not wanting it to be in New Jericho. I’ve sort of been looking for a place for us for some time. Been looking for  _ this  _ place, specifically, really.”

“This is ours?” Ada repeated. “This is  _ our _ apartment?”

“Yes,” North said. “Is that okay?”

Ada spun around to face her. “Okay? It’s more than okay, it’s perfect! It looks amazing! Where did you get all this stuff? How did you do all this behind my back?”

“I had some help,” North admitted. “Your family is surprisingly good at keeping secrets from you. And really handy at moving furniture.”

“That’s what Nines was doing last week when he cancelled our weekly coffee last minute!” Ada said. “I was pissed at him for that!” 

North smiled. “He figured you’d forgive him.” 

“This is real?” Ada asked again. “Really real?”

“Yes, Ada,” North laughed. “This is real. Very really truly, this is our apartment.”

“I love you,” Ada said, pulling North into a hug. “You’re literally the best, you know that?”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Let me show you the best part of the place though,” North said. She pulled away from Ada and although Ada made a disappointed noise at the loss of contact, she was quite curious.

She followed North into the kitchen, where a narrow staircase led up to the roof.

“No way,” Ada said, as North started climbing up.

“Just come see, Ada!” 

Ada followed North up the creaking stairs. North opened the door to the roof, and Ada followed her out. 

It was a bizarre sensation to walk into her mind palace in the real world. Of course it wasn’t  _ actually  _ her mind palace. There were a bunch of differences when you looked hard, but the basics were the same. There was a small greenhouse, and a beautiful lounge area underneath a trellis covered in climbing roses and honeysuckle, with fairylights braided carefully into the mix of flowers. In the middle of the lounge underneath, a small fire was burning. 

“Surprise!”

Ada stood frozen for a second, seeing all her family and friends gathered on the rooftop. She registered faintly when North grabbed her hand again and dragged her with her to join them. 

Nines stood up from one of the low chairs, holding a neatly wrapped box. “Happy birthday Ada.” 

“I - I don’t,” Ada stuttered.

“We don’t know when you were activated,” Nines continued. “And it doesn’t really matter. North and I were talking about this a while ago and we figured this date would be more appropriate anyway.” 

It suddenly dawned on Ada. “Today’s the day you woke me up,” she said. “I turned deviant a year ago.”

Nines smiled. “Like I said, happy birthday.” 

Ada took the box from Nines and carefully removed the wrapping paper. She opened the small box inside to find a thin, gold bracelet inside with four delicate charms dangling from it. The numbers 1, 2, 8 and 9. Ada looked back up at Nines, and from him to Connor and Markus, and back to the bracelet. 

“Thank you guys,” she whispered eventually. 

“You’re welcome,” her three brothers said in unison. Talking at the same time was starting to become scarily common between the four of them. 

“I’d say we should sing happy birthday,” Gavin broke said. “But no one really wants to hear me sing.” 

“No we really don’t,” Tina agreed, and Gavin elbowed her side. “You said it!” 

Ada laughed and at that everyone started chatting at once. Nines helped Ada put on the bracelet and then she and North joined the group on one of the couches. 

The evening progressed in a familiar fashion. Gavin and Tina got slightly drunk - insisting they definitely  _ weren’t  _ all the while, talking to each other about things no one but the two of them would probably fully understand even if they tried. Nines and Markus ended up in one of their weird, philosophical discussions that Ada quickly opted out of. Hank, Valerie and Chris argued loudly about sports, Connor, North and Simon played jenga. 

They all played Cards Against Humanity for a while - Gavin’s set was so old and tattered you could recognize some of the cards from the back by their folds. North won the first round, Tina the second. 

It was around four in the morning when it started quieting down. Tina and Valerie had retired to the couch in the living room a while ago, while Hank had just crashed on one of the chairs under the trellis, with Connor sitting next to him, flipping through one of Ada’s books. Nines was sitting against the railing on the edge of the roof, Gavin next to him, head on his shoulder, half asleep and smoking a cigarette. Markus and Simon were in the greenhouse, looking at the various herbs and flowers North had planted. Chris had fallen asleep in the lounge as well, using his varsity jacket as a blanket over his legs. 

“Sorry if you wanted to spend the first night in our new apartment with just the two of us,” North whispered, as they stood leaning against the railing watching over the city. 

“It’s okay,” Ada replied, wrapping her arm around North’s waist. “You know I love having them all around. And we’ll have plenty of nights to ourselves to come.”

“Yes we do,” North agreed. “We’ve got all the time in the world. As long as - you know - neither of us get kidnapped again or anything.”

Ada nudged her shoulder. “Hey, that’s not funny!” 

“It is a bit,” North said. “Are you excited to head back to the DPD still?” 

“Yes,” Ada answered. “I think I’ll be able to add some real value to their team now that I know more about android psychology. And working with them I’ll get to learn even more.”

“You’re going to do a lot of good out there, you know,” North said. “I’m proud of you.”

Ada pulled North closer. “I love you, you know that?”

“You’ve mentioned it a couple of times, yeah.”

“Shut up,” Ada said, and she kissed North before she could protest. 

“I love you too,” North murmured against her lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we're done! Sorry to end on a short chapter, but the last one was really the wrap up. This was just a little extra, I guess. 
> 
> Gosh it's weird that this is done. Let me know what you thought!
> 
> I've got a new fic already in the works but it's in early stages still. But as always, I'd love to see you around. 
> 
> -X


End file.
